Becoming the Dragon of True Domination
by MysticSSJTwin
Summary: UNDERGOING RE-WRITE: Issei is the Red Dragon Emperor of Domination. But he's also much more. If he is going to protect the ones he loves he must learn what that means and must deal with his inner demons to become the master of himself. Many twists and turns and hopefully pretty original. IsseixHarem(Duh). Stronger, less perverted, more driven Issei.
1. 1)Dragon, a Devil, and an Exorcist

**Hello All.**

 **I'm back. This is my rewrite for Becoming the Dragon of True Domination. There will be an A/N at the bottom that will explain a few things. I really hope you all enjoy.**

Disclaimer: I own nothing

 _ **Rating Game VIP Viewing Room**_

 _ **June**_

For the Rating Game between Rias Gremory and Riser Phenex, it was agreed upon to view the spectacle, if you could call the soon to be ensuing slaughter a spectacle, from a country house within Gremory territory. Drinks had been passed around as a formality, and even the normally sober Venelana Gremory had a few drinks, if only to less the emotional blow of watching her daughter struggle fruitlessly. She sat next to Rosalia Phenex, or Lady Phenex to most, and the two had started making wedding plans for the two kings the moment they had met earlier that night. Of course, ALL of the sigils on everything would involve a beautiful red rose with flaming golden Phoenix wings to celebrate the union. The two women had started the night giggling, but the giggling turned less friendly and more nervous on both sides the longer the game went on.

They weren't the only ones whose attitude got more nervous as the night went on.

Two men stood in front of a large viewing screen off to the side, each drinking a glass of the Underworld's finest wine. One was quite tall, and fairly imposing. His thick crimson hair and crimson goatee coupled with the festive pseudo battle suit he wore, that seemed to struggle to contain his broad shoulders, gave him quite the imposing appearance. The only thing that would keep children running in fright was the incredibly friendly smile that almost always seemed to be plastered onto his quite handsome face. Though this instance is one of the few times that Zeoticus Gremory's smile was replaced by another emotion. Complete confusion.

His counterpart however was quite the opposite of him. Though they both wore similar style pseudo armor suits expected of those of their standing on the Devil Council their statures are quite different. This man is clean shaven with neatly combed long, blonde hair and was about a head shorter and of a much slimmer build. Rolland Phenex has a multitude of emotions showing on his face, the cycle playing on repeat.

Confusion, Disappointment, and a small dash of hope.

He's very confused as to how in the 9 Hells Riser is being decimated like he this.

His disappointment with Riser's performance shows clear as day. For someone who claims he wants to succeed and move high up the ranks in the Rating Games like his elder brother, the boy never trains and merely relies on his regeneration to bail him out. This fault is showing heavily as of this moment.

And lastly, there was a small dash of hope that welled up in his chest. In part with the hope that his son will pull through, but also for Rias. He himself couldn't show it, but if his son lost then maybe it would be the wakeup call the boy needs.

But as a father he has no choice but to root for his son's victory of course, especially when such an important arrangement is hanging in the balance between the families.

The last three people of note in the room are two men around the same height and build as Lord Phenex, one rivalling Zeoticus in terms of height with the same hair color but with a slighter build, and a petite raven-haired girl with pig tails wearing a Mahou Shoujo outfit (that she refused to not wear when not in a council meeting).

The latter of the two couldn't contain her excitement as she jumped up and down at an announcement.

" _Rias Gremory Pawn has retired 1 Rook, 1 Knight, and 1 Bishop of Riser Phenex."_

A collective groan spread throughout the room from most of the occupants. Though it was over shadowed by one extremely excited Mau.

"SEGOUI!" Serafall shrieked with stars in her eyes, "Onii-chan is so awesome!"

There was a small groan throughout the room as Serafall once again was waaay too informal with someone she didn't know.

Both Rosalia and Venelana had to turn away from the brutality that Rias's new pawn had displayed in order to retire three of Riser's pieces at once. New devil or not, the boy was a vicious fighter who gave no quarter.

The Leviathan turned to Sirzechs who watched the match with an unblinking concentration. "Hey Zechs-chan you should smile! Or do you not think that Onii-chan and Ria-tan can beat the Yakitori-sama?!" she asked enthusiastically, taking up the new Pawn's nickname for Riser, much to the Lady Phenex's irritation, who let her irritation be known through a scowl and a small "Ahem". All to remind the Leviathan that it was her son she was speaking of.

Serafall, for her part, at least had the decency to flush slightly and smacked her fist to her forehead and stuck her tongue out to the side in embarrassment. Lady Phenex just rolled her eyes with a slight smile gracing her lips before scowling again at the announcement that Rias's queen and knight retired, but so did the remaining 4 pieces of Riser's peerage bar his Queen, himself, and his Bishop Ravel.

"I don't know Sera. My sister's Pawn has proven to be far more formidable than I had imagined, and Ria-tan has become far more cunning than I gave her credit for. But the odds still aren't looking good for them." The Older Devils in the room frowned at the Mau Lucifer. He wasn't supposed to be taking sides, even if it was his little sister. Not to mention how important they all viewed the joining of the two houses is.

It has come down to a final showdown of the two houses. Rias had just her nigh on brand new Pawn, who was apparently supposed to be a very unremarkable teen while still human and armed only with a mere twice critical, while Riser still had his Queen and his sister Ravel, his bishop.

Venelana let out a small sigh. "It seems this battle will be drawing to an end soon. Rias will be devastated, but it can't be helped." She and Lady Venelana both shared a look and she seemed to be in agreeance with her prediction. Serafall and Sirzechs both frowned at the two women but said nothing and turned to their friend, Mau Ajuka Beelzebub. They saw how he remained glaring unblinkingly at his screen, which he had manipulated to zooming in on only the young white haired devil. They both tried to get his attention but he waved them offer, not moving his eyes from the newly reincarnated devil.

Serafall and Sirzechs glanced at each other and shrugged his actions off. Ajuka tended to get tunnel vision when he found something interesting. And the moment they turned their attention back to the Rating Game is when all hell broke loose, so to speak.

" _Lady Gremory, you are too injured to continue fighting."_

" _W-what?! Are you asking me to give up?!"_

" _No. I'm asking you to let me do my duty as your Pawn."_

" _W-What…?"_

" _Riser!" The white haired Pawn called out to his opponent. "I would like to make a deal with you."_

 _Riser looked surprised, then narrowed his eyes at the boy as Rias blustered beside him at his audacity._

" _Oh? And what kind of deal do you think Riser would make with you?"_

" _I would like to fight for my King's honor in her stead. In other words, I would like to ask for you to view her as a non-combatant like I have viewed your sister. I would like the terms for a Gremory defeat to rest solely on my retirement from the game"_

" _So, what? You wish for Riser to fight you man to man? Please. Why would Riser risk his marriage with Rias for a low born reincarnated trash's attempt at grandeur?"_

" _eheh"_

" _Huh?"_

" _Heh… heh HAHAHAHA!" the teen began laughing out loud._

And within the booth everyone's veins ran cold. Of all the things they had expected to happen, this hadn't even crossed their minds. Never would they have expected for Rias's new servant to be driven to insanity. This thought only cemented by the next words out of the boy's mouth.

" _Oh no Riser, who said anything about man to man? I would not expect you to throw away your most powerful piece in a fight as important as this. I merely want to be able to fight you two without worrying about trying to guard my King the whole time, no offence Lady Gremory. For as long as she is in play, I cannot release my full power to fight you. I will accept both of you as my opponents in return for Lady Gremory to be taken out of harm's way with Ravel Phenex."_

A few moments of silence past as the two men stared each other down. Everyone present, and even those viewing the match looked rapidly between the two, trying to determine who would relent first.

" _You know. Riser knows you're playing him. And believe Riser, he KNOWS. But Riser is going to take this opportunity to put you back in your place, he agrees to your terms." The Phenex smirked and looked up into the direction of where the magic circles that acted as cameras were. "On his honor as a member of the prestigious house of Phenex, Riser pledges to recognize Lady Rias as a non-combatant, as shall Riser's peerage."_

 _He then turned back to Issei who was talking quietly to a VERY PISSED OFF Rias, before ushering her towards where Ravel had been watching the fight. "Are you ready boy? Riser will not hold back, for once Riser destroys you he shall take Rias as his wife. Immediately."_

 _He gave only a nod and slipped into a stance and motioned with his fingers for the two to "Come and get him"._

What followed was one of the most brutal and intense fights witnessed in the recent years of the rating games, let alone in an unofficial match. And the result would surprise most.

The VIP room, though full of people, was so silent you could hear a pin drop. All members waited with baited breath as the climax of the Rias Gremory vs. Riser Phenex Rating Game came close to a mind shattering end. The third Son of Phenex was expected to win in a landslide, but that is NOT what ended up happening.

From the beginning the completely inexperienced Gremory team began to decimate the far more experienced Phenex team with a surgical precision that should not have been possible. With a mere **5 pieces** , Rias shattered the enemy and lost only four of them in exchange for nearly the entirety of Riser's. Each loss of Rias's pieces only spurred the remaining to fight harder and harder. To those who had watched it had become difficult to ascertain who they should cheer for.

The final bout of Pawn Vs King and Queen was the most shocking. Despite the battle being two against one, the moment Rias was removed the teen became a completely different fighter. Displaying technique and strength that had been absent from his earlier fighting proved that he really had been holding back.

But even this apparently wasn't enough as he began to take more and more hits the longer the fight wore on. All seemed lost until the boy had caught the two of them in a barrier field. By trapping them inside the very tight barrier, the two could barely move around inside of it. He had begun sweating profusely and had sunk to one knee to maintain the strength of the barrier. Then, with difficulty, held his left hand out and demonic energy began to take the form of a staff before bending in on itself to form a bow formed of his energy. His gear flashed a blinding red and green and shouted out **[TRANSFER]**. The gear vanished from his arm, but the bow began glowing brightly as the white haired teen struggled to pull back on the bowstring.

To say Ajuka and the other devils in the room were confused would be an understatement. The Pawn was the bearer of a mere twice critical. Never before had they heard of one having the ability to transfer power. Was it a subspecies? Each of them looked on with a deep scowl on their faces.

Lord Phenex shook his head with a sad smile. "As much as I've begun to respect the boy, he really should give up. Attempting to fight further is just a fruitless battle at this point. Continuing like this will give some a poor impression of the boy. He's not quite experienced enough, nor quite strong enough to overcome Riser's Regeneration. Give the boy a few years or less of training and he actually may surpass him though"

"He's done well enough honestly. For a boy who's been a devil for what? A month? And trained even less than that? To bring two powerful opponents like my son and his queen to this point is quite the feat in itself." Lady Phenex chimed in, expressing how impressed she was with the boy herself.

Ajuka began muttering to himself as his eyes scanned the scene faster and harder than he had before. He began to use his [Kankara Formula] to investigate and understand what the teen was actually doing. None of it was adding up to him. Though his muttering fell on deaf ears as Serafall joined the conversation with the older devils with her grown up attitude. That alone was enough to make all other conversation cease and their eyes turn towards her.

"Actually he has been training hard for at least the past 5 years that I've known him. He is very intelligent. I wouldn't count Ise-dono out just yet." Serafall said seriously, her voice level and without a hint of her normal playfulness.

"Mau-sama what do you know that we don't?"

"How do you know my daughter's Pawn in the first place?"

"What the hell is he trying to do then?"

Serafall opened her mouth to respond but had difficulty forming answers to the rapid fired questions the noble families were asking.

"W-well I once tried to reincarnate him as my knight… but the two knight pieces wouldn't take…" she trailed off sheepishly with a flushed face. The silence that reined in the viewing room was deafening. Even Sirzechs and Ajuka ripped their attention away from the screen at her revelation. The shock on everyone's faces made Serafall's cheeks burn brighter in embarrassment.

"I know I'm a failure as a Mau," she said guiltily, obviously misreading the room, "To think that I couldn't reincarnate him but Rias could… it's almost like he was meant to be with her…" she finished with a sad pout.

It took Ajuka a few moments to process the ridiculous claim the shorter Mau was making about his pride and joy before an irate expression crossed his normally calm features.

"Are you implying that my Evil Piece System is _**broken**_?!" he all but shouted, causing everyone in the room to jump at his very out of character reaction.

"Because you would be incorrect Serafall Leviathan. The Evil Pieces do not reject a person because of some ridiculous notion such as destiny or fate. The Evil Pieces will resurrect anyone as a devil as long as 2 conditions are met!" Ajuka had stood to his feet at this point and was pacing back and forth and ranting… though it seemed to be more to himself than most of the room... almost like he was trying to convince himself more than them.

"The Evil Pieces require 2 things. Firstly the pieces judge a person based off their current strength and/or their future potential. Even if someone is strong, if they have no potential then they could require less pieces than weaker person with great potential." He was on a role now as continued in a frenzied manner.

"The second thing required is that the Devil attempting to reincarnate someone into their servant must have the sufficient power to initiate and maintain the process for long enough for the reincarnation to complete itself. A weak master cannot reincarnate an ultimate class being simply by giving them say 2 Rooks, which is equivalent to 10 pawns. Even if they have mutated pieces it shouldn't be possible."

His rant came to an abrupt end in front of the short Mau and he grabbed her shoulders and glared down at her, though seemingly more calm than before.

"The only explanation is that you were not strong enough to resurrect him with 6 pieces." Serafall's eyes widened in surprise. She wasn't strong enough? Even with 6 pieces? What was that even supposed to mean?

She looked up into his eyes with confusion, and as if reading her mind he gave a small smile. "Even with 8 Pieces, the Gremory Heiress should, by all intents and purposes, not have been able to reincarnate him if you, who are several hundred times stronger than her, could not with 6."

"So how is it that your System recognizes _Him_ as my sister's pawn then? You say that she could not have reincarnated him, but yet she did. So then how do you explain it?" Sirzechs asked with narrowed eyes at his fellow leaders, but most specifically with his eyes on Serafall"

Her savior came from an unexpected source. The shout of Rias's mother.

"W-what is that?!"

The Mau turned back to the screen and stared in shock at the screen. A small black magic circle had appeared in front of the bowstring. A vile miasmic aura began to seep from the circle and single black barbed arrow was forming on the string and was aimed at Riser Phenex. Panic raged through the two devils on the field and from those observing. Everything about that arrow screamed WRONG.

Ajuka quickly activated his most precious ability, which gave him the ability to identify and understand all forms of phenomena, but the results left him more questions than answers.

The moment the arrow was released Ajuka let out a cry of pain and he cupped his right eye, a small trickle of blood dripping beneath his hand.

Serafall rushed to Ajuka's side as the man sat frozen in shock from the sudden injury.

The Phenex's didn't even notice the Mau's injury as they stared in horror as the reincarnated devil stood over the screaming form of Riser, still trapped in the barrier. The bow shattered in his hand and was slowly disappearing in motes of crimson light. Riser writhed in agony as a hole the size of a fist refused to shut. In fact, it seemed to be growing larger and larger the more Riser tried to regenerate.

The more the Phenex tried to regenerate the hotter and larger the flames grew until his queen dropped to her knees from the heat. Air was running thin within the barrier and her breath came in ragged gasps as her own master's flames were proving too hot for her to bare.

Lady and Lord Phenex could only look away in horror but couldn't escape the blood curdling screams of their son. Seconds past into minutes as the white haired demon stared their son down with an unfeeling glare, simply waiting for him to surrender. Yubelluna had passed out at this point and her clothes had started smoking as if they too soon would catch fire. The Phenex's silently begged their son to surrender as the screams grew beyond unbearable. Ravel had flown to the boy and was banging against the barrier sobbing and screaming for the Pawn to release whatever magic afflicted her elder brother. Finally, after a few more agonizing seconds Riser Phenex lost consciousness and with a single snap of the boy's fingers the black magic circle disappeared. Almost Instantly Riser's injury healed itself. Right afterwards, the teen could be seen collapsing to the ground from the exertion as particles of light began to envelop him. But not before the audience saw his condition. The charred remains of his right arm was completely black from halfway between his elbow and shoulder down to his fingertips. The entirety of his visible body was marked with crisscrossing black lines. Almost as if something had burned out all the veins in his body.

House Gremory had won the Unofficial Rating Game

And Rias had won her Freedom.

But it was clear, above all else, that the boy had used a power well beyond what he should have and is in critical condition for the efforts he went through for his King.

The room was too shocked to speak. Rias was not meant to win this match.

Ajuka turned towards Sirzechs, still cupping his injured eye. "Sirzechs, that boy is an anomaly that needs to be handled with care. He is dangerous and needs to be-"

The Mau stopped abruptly and whipped his head around towards the back of the room at the same time Sirzechs and Serafall did the same thing. They lifted their hands as one and magic circles began to form in each of their hands.

"Who's there?!" Sirzechs demanded as the three of them blasted energy towards the subject of their inquiry.

 _ **April 23rd**_

 _ **Greece**_

A blonde woman with long flowing blonde hair jerked her head up with a cry of surprise and began breathing heavily as sweat poured down her face. The Kimono clad woman fell backward onto her bottom and barely managed to catch herself from slamming into the ground completely. As she began trying to catch her breath her eyes darted around the room trying to get her bearings again. She was no longer in that VIP viewing room. She was safe and in a… cave?

Surrounding her on all sides were tall rough walls with stalagmites hanging from the ceiling, with contrasted with the vibrant colors adorning the floor and walls? Rugs and expensive golden fixtures adorned the room in a confusing manner. The cave is almost completely circular in shape and seemed to be roughly a hundred meters across in every direction.

As sound began to filter back to her, coming in fuzzy at first, but now as clear as it should. The sound of rushing water became clear. A waterfall?

Her eyes circle the room until she smells smoke right in front of her. Turning her eyes forward she nearly jumps at the site of a beautiful, dark haired woman sitting cross-legged on a cushion in front of her.

The source of the smoke seemed to be the long pipe she had to her lips and two incense burners to the left and right of the strange woman. The woman merely smiled at Yasaka and began to speak.

"Ahh, so you've finally returned Lady Yasaka. Don't worry, the effects will wear off soon. The trip is always rough the first time some someone experiences it."

Yasaka's eyes widen as she remember d why she's here. "Delphi, they saw me somehow. They attacked me and it pulled me out of the vision. How is that possible?"

The woman named Delphi slowly puffed her pipe before letting out a long stream of smoke to the side. "It was not you who they attacked. Even presences such as the Mau would not be able to detect you. That was merely a vision of a future, not an astral projection into said future."

Yasaka slowly sat up and regained her composure. She narrowed her eyes at the famous Oracle and asked quietly, "Are you sure that that is his future? To become a devil?"

Another puff of smoke, longer this time.

Delphi's eyes hardened as she stared into Yasaka's eyes. "Yes and no. The future is not set in stone. It is ever changing. And every time one views the future and attempts to changing it, it impacts that future and the future of others in a major way. Whether the outcome of the change is for the better or worse it is unknown until the events come to pass **.** Hyoudou Issei _ **Yr Un Heb adenydd**_ is one of the very few beings whose strings have been removed from the hands of the Fates as all beings like him have. His actions will mar and tear that fabric every decision he makes just like any others of his kind. However, he and those like him are the exception, not the rule. Most couldn't change their fates even with in-depth knowledge of the future."

"In other words. Your ward's future is entirely in his hands, as are all of those who come in contact with him."

She paused to draw another puff as Yasaka struggled to maintain her composure after Delphi used the despicable moniker for her Ward. Even his other title would have been preferable to that degrading name.

"But unlike the rest of his kind… he does not have the strength to resist the powers of the world. He will not make it to his 18th birthday in most futures, and not to his 20th in the rest. Save 3."

Yasaka froze. Such overwhelming odds against him? Why? Why was the world so cruel to this boy? His past be damned, why did the world seem to reject him at every turn?

The Youkai leader sighed, resigned to continue this path. She would do whatever it took to keep him as safe as possible. To give him the best life possible.

She looked up at Delphi with tears threatening to fall in her determined eyes. "What are his choices?"

A sick grin formed on Delphi's face. Oh the Irony of it all. Moments like these were what she loved most about being the Oracle.

"The three chances that grant him the highest chance are survival are returning to heaven-"

" **NO!"** Yasaka all but jumped to her feet. Her aura blazed around her and its weight would've rendered any being with a power equal to a high class devil unconscious. Her nine tails burst forth and seemed to blaze with fire at the same time her Fox ears appeared. The whole world seemed to tremble around her as her anger rolled off of her in waves **. "NEVER WILL I ALLOW HEAVEN TO TOUCH THAT BOY AGAIN!"** her voice was inlaid with so much power that it seemed as if thousands of voices cried out the exclamation, each trying to overpower the others.

Delphi for her part seemed unperturbed by this display and just took another puff of her pipe. "Hmm such power. It is no wonder that you were chosen as the vessel of Amaterasu. But calm down Fox, you're getting dust all over my carpets. Besides, you asked and I provided your answer."

The Fox Youkai slowly sat back down as her aura slipped away, the air becoming breathable again, but the hostility in her voice did not disappear.

"You mentioned three options. What were the others?"

"The only other 2 options he has for a future… is with the Devils. As you already saw. Isn't it ironic?" Delphi finished with a cackle and a tear slipped from her eye from laughing so hard. "For one to fall so far? For damnation to be his salvation?" she clutched her sides and her pipe clattered to the floor. "From the Heavens to Hell…" she breathed out as she struggled to stop her laughter.

Yasaka glared at her in disgust before standing to her feet struggling to maintain at least a semblance of civility. "I thank you for your guidance Oracle. You will have your payment within the week." She grit out and whirled around to head for the entrance to the Oracles home. Yasaka lost herself in thought for a few moments remembering what Serafall Leviathan had said. How she had tried to reincarnate him and failed. If she couldn't do so then she needed to find this Rias girl.

"Fox." The Raven haired woman called out softly, all traces of mirth gone from her voice. Yasaka stopped in her tracks and tilted her head back slightly.

"In Kuoh there are two young devils will have the means to reincarnate him, you know the ones. Either one gives him the same chance of survival. Both will treat him well and he will have the opportunity to flourish into the man he needs to become for what is to yet to come." She began puffing her pipe again as Yasaka turned around and looked at her with narrowed eyes, confusion evident on her face.

Delphi reached into the front of her toga, pulling out a pendant and gripped it tightly before gently stroking the runes that were engraved over its surface. She gazed longingly into it and as it dawned on Yasaka, her features softened in understanding. "You knew him didn't you? He gave you that pendant. Way back before…" her voice trembled and she choked a bit on her words before clearing her throat. "Before he was changed."

Delphi closed her eyes slowly and sighed. "He was always a good boy. He was sweet and gentle and tried to fix everything for anyone he felt needed help. **Atlas** may be holding the world up, but it was he who bore the weight of it on his shoulders. *Sigh* It was his vile mother that caused all of it you know… She was the one who poisoned him with her ideals and scheming. She indoctrinated him, and he followed her like a lost lamb. Always doing everything she asked of him without question through blind love. She was even the one who cast him out, removing what she thought he cherished most…" Delphi trailed off, sadness had creeped into her voice with every word spoken of his tragic fate.

"How did you even find out who he used to be? It's not exactly something that even he remembers now."

Yasaka smiled sadly as she recalled the night. She walked back to the vulnerable looking woman and sat back down. She waved her hand and a tray with Saki appeared. She poured them both a cup and handed one to Delphi before taking the other for herself.

She smiled softly, "In western cultures, it is common to toast to those you are speaking of. Especially loved ones, or so I'm told." She held her cup forward towards Delphi who smiled softly back.

The oracle slowly brought her cup forwarded and giggled out, "It's not exactly a Greek thing, but sure." She clinked her cup against Yasaka's softly.

CLINK

"To Issei."

"T-to N-n…" Delphi tried to say his real name, but choked out an incoherent mumble.

The both downed their cups and Yasaka scrunched her nose up slightly as she swallowed the liquid. She poured them both another glass and sighed. As she began remembering the night that brought Issei into her home and heart.

"It was Ophis who told me you know. Right after she appeared to me well after midnight in my bedroom and put the 7 year old into the bed beside Kunou. She told me of his past and the trials he faced. The betrayals he suffered through with a smile on his face. She told me of those who tortured and destroyed him over and over again. She even told me that his true name was **N-** "

 _ **1 week later**_

 _ **May 1st**_

 _ **Kuoh Academy Park**_

To say that Issei Hyoudou had been dreading this day would be the understatement of the decade. The young teen trudged through a large park on the winding path that led to the front gate of his new high school. The park was beautiful he had to admit. Cherry blossoms lined the walk way a little off and the autumn season had changed most of the leaves of the rest of the park into a soft golden orange. The gate wasn't too far away from his new home either. It was a just a short walk away, something that the very anti-morning teen was very happy about. Once he walked into the park all he had to do was pass the fountain marking the center and then the crossroads from the other entrances to the park. Then it was a very short walk to the gates of the prestigious school.

Though even the beauty of the grounds were not enough to lift Issei's sour mood. A high school with the reputation of Kuoh Academy at one time should have been like a dream come true for the white-haired teen. First of all, the school was very well known to be a top school in not just the country, but in most of the world of pre-university academics. Then there's the fact that the school boasted some of the best sports and clubs for furthering one's career. And to top it all off the school boasted a 10:1 female to male ratio, so why would any self-respecting guy not be drooling over the chance to go?

Well, for Issei it was quite simple. He had already learned pretty much all there was to learn of high school education from his parental guardians. His current mother figure had drilled into him the necessity of "Scholarly Development" as she phrased it. Really it just involved him being shouted at by 3 or more tutors over random subject at the same time for 6 hours every day except Sundays. As it was, he reckoned he had surpassed a high school education, even one with an academic program as advanced as Kuoh Academy, around 2 years ago. And here he was going to school to be a mere 2nd year student.

 _Sigh._

Then if the boredom wasn't enough, he would be attending halfway through the spring term. How that sly woman had managed to get him into an academy like this in just a week was beyond him, though he supposed she did know a lot of important people with her occupation and all.

 _Sigh._

Then to add insult to injury, the worst part is that he suspects that he won't really make too many friends very quickly, if at all. _'This sort of thing is kind of expected when someone looks like me.'_ Issei thought dejectedly as he walked next to the large fountain sitting in the middle of the walkway leading to the main gate. He slowed to a stop and turned to slowly face the fountain, a nostalgic thought crossing into his mind. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a strange coin, one foreign to this side of the world. He approached the fountain and allowed himself a moment to stare at his own reflection in the crystal clear water.

Issei would stand out among even the most diverse of crowds. His hair was half unruly and spiked upwards haphazardly in a style that no amount of product in the world could fix, with a few bangs that spiked downward over his face. The long tresses that normally fall down his back haphazardly were drawn together in a tail held together with an inscribed black metal ringlet at the nape of his neck. The most noticeable part was that his hair had the same shade as snow. As bright white as one could imagine. At a single glance it would appear dyed which only cemented the predisposed judgement most people made about him. He missed the time when his hair was closer akin to a dark flaxen color. To this day he still doesn't know, or remember why his hair color changed so rapidly. It just seemed to happen over the course of a week. But that's all he remembers.

To most he looked like a delinquent, even his guardians had thought so when they had first met him. The scar running diagonally over his left eye didn't help the image, nor the heterochromatic eyes that he had been cursed with. He couldn't even remember how he got that scar over his eye, nor the rest of the various scars that adorned his body. A sudden chill spread up the teen's spine and he tugged his long sleeves down some more uncomfortably. As for his eyes, he hated them the most. His right eye is an electric blue that most would find mesmerizing. His left however is emerald green and slightly deformed with the pupil being more elongated than circular. While his vision was perfect, most would assume that the slight distortion of his left eye's iris and pupil were caused by whatever gave him the scar. Deep down, he really despised this eye, as the imperfection was just another thing that people judged him for.

He gripped the coin tightly and closed his eyes.

' _I just want to not be judge harshly and maybe make some friends while I'm here. At least until I finish my mission'_

With that wish he tossed the coin into the fountain. He opened his eyes just as the water make contact with the surface, the waves it caused displacing his reflection. Issei's eyes widened as very quickly the water began to settle and an image appeared in the water other than his own reflection. He quickly grit his teeth and his eyes hardened as he glared at the image in disdain.

A face with bright violet irises surrounded by a liquid gold ring smirked back at him.

With an angry snarl he swiped his hand against the surface splashing water everywhere and onto himself, dispelling the vile image before it returned to his own reflection once again.

He stood still for a few moments attempting to calm himself down as he felt his rage getting the best of him. It had been a long time since his anger raged out of control like this. He tried desperately to calm down, but his heart rate just continued to climb. His fists clenched to the point where it began to cause him pain.

' _What is wrong with me today?_ ' he thought darkly.

He willed his legs to move and forced himself to keep walking towards the gate even though every bit of him desired to be rid of the place. To be anywhere but here. Only his duty to his mission he was assigned kept his will from breaking.

' _That's right. I'm doing this for_ _ **her**_ _sake. I must keep going.'_

One foot in front of the other he kept himself moving forward like he always does. But even still his anger blinded him to his surroundings. If it weren't for the pendant Yasaka gave him, he was sure his aura would be raging around him.

It was the moment he began crossing the cross-way that his instincts began screaming at him. He pushed his rage to the side and turned to his right just in time as a white and blue blur slammed into him with the force of a freight train. He managed to turn just in time that the blurs slammed into his chest rather than his side so he barely budged.

The blurs however seemed to bounce off of him, and reacting on instinct reached an arm out around each blur and yanked them back to him to keep them from falling to the ground. He blinked very quickly on impact and let out a small grunt while the two blurs let out surprised squeaks as the sound of something cracking made him wince. The taste of strawberry flooded his senses which left him dumbfounded. Why was he tasting strawberry? He slowly opened his eyes and looked down his nose to see the corner of a brown and red square in his mouth.

'Is… Is that toast?'

He slowly looked to the other side of the square piece of bread to see a pair of lips wrapped around the opposite corner. His body trembled as he looked up into brilliant sapphire eyes that stared back at him in shock with her cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

'Fuck… here we go.'

As he backed away, taking his bite of the toast with him, he really got a look at her. With a height that rivaled his, she was fairly tall for a girl. Under his hands, which were still around her waist, he could feel taught muscles through her uniform blouse that contrasted with the delicate contours of her heart shaped face. Her shoulder length blue hair framed her face perfectly and helped accent the brilliance of her sapphire eyes. And the flush of her cheeks only further contributed to how he viewed her.

She's… beautiful…

A sudden gasp coming from the blunette combined with her face turning an even darker shade of red confirmed Issei's worst fears.

"I said that out loud, didn't I?"

A slow nod from the blunette confirmed his fear. He groaned internally. 'It's OK, I can salvage this. Come on Issei, just play it cool, smile, and say something suave.' He smiled at the girl and with as much charm as he could muster. 'Alright just apologize and introduce yourself ok? You've got th-'

"You make good toast." The blunette turned an even darker shade of red and steam seemed to be coming out of her ears.

'WHY THE FUCK DID YOU SAY THAT?' Issei screamed internally at himself. 'Ok, just get out of here. You haven't been murdered yet. ABORT ABORT!'

Fortunately or unfortunately depending on the outlook Issei was saved from another embarrassing response by the smaller of the two girls finally speaking up.

"…Hey perv…"

The sudden introduction of a new voice caused Issei to forcibly tear his eyes from the beauty in front of him and focus on the owner of the new voice.

The girl is short, barely making it to his chest in height. White hair that rivaled his own adorned her head and a few bangs hung down on either side of her face. The two bangs were held in place by black twin kitten clips to keep them from falling into her way. Hazel eyes glared up at him and caused him to visibly shiver under the intense pressure emitting from the gaze. Her cheeks were also lightly dusted with a pink tinge that he couldn't place. She also wore the same outfit the blunette wore, so he figured they both attended the Kuoh campus… but he would've assumed that the middle school uniform would be different than the high school one. Any following thoughts were cut off by the shorter girl speaking again.

"… Are you going to let us go…? Or is this gonna have to get physical?" she deadpanned at him with the same glare.

*Shivers*

Issei hopped back a few steps and started laughing nervously while scratching the back of his neck.

"Sorry about that I just didn't want either of you two to get hurt from falling." He smiled at them and continued as he stuck out his hand.

"I'm Hyoudou Issei a second year and I'm new to the area, it's a pleasure to meet you." The blunette seemed to gather herself a bit, but was still heavily blushing as she stepped forward and shook his hand.

"Tsubasa Yura, and I'm the Treasurer of the Student Council and a Second Year as well."

The moment their hands touched Tsubasa had to suppress a gasp. His hand is firm and calloused like a fighters, but held hers delicately. But that wasn't the issue, she looked up at him with wide eyes as his form became overwhelmed by the color Red. It swallowed her vision until all she could see was Hyoudou Issei and a massive sea of red. She had never felt so small in her life. It felt like a monster was looking down on her waiting to devour her whole.

He broke the contact and she swore she saw his eyes cloud slightly and his smile became sad for a moment before returning to normal. But his eyes remained hollow.

He turned away from her and towards the white haired girl and offered his hand to her as well. The shorter girl just glared at it then moved her eyes back to his, not even making the attempt to shake his outstretched hand.

"…Toujou Koneko" she said stoically.

Issei sighed and stepped forward again shocking both of the girls. Before Koneko could react he patted her head gently towards the right side of her head. To Koneko it felt like a bolt of lightning flashed through her body and unconsciously tilted her head into the gentle petting. By the time she had realized what he had done he had already turned away and was walking up the stairs to the building. Her cheeks flamed up in embarrassment as her mind struggled to process how he knew just where to pet her to get her guard down. Her trance was broken a moment later after his parting words.

"See you around Tsubasa! And Koneko! You have a good day in middle school ok?!" he called back as he entered the school.

Now Koneko's face was pure red… for a VERY different reason. She launched forward towards the subject of her rage only to be caught and restrained by Tsubasa who was trying desperately not to laugh.

"Koneko calm down, I'm sure he didn't realize you weren't a middle schooler." That only seemed to escalate the issue until the blunette managed to produce a chocolate bar and wave it in front of the furious girl's nose. The struggling stopped immediately as the girl snatched the candy bar away from her and began to nibble on it.

"…Fine… But if I see him again he's dead meat."

Tsubasa sighed in relief. She really didn't want to have to deal with the fallout that would ensue from the short Devil's warpath. She did NOT take short jokes lightly.

With the moment past glanced down for a moment and her eyes widened in surprise. She turned towards Koneko and asked quietly, "Koneko, were you using any of your true strength during our race?"

Koneko froze for a moment as if just realizing the answer herself. "… Not all of it but enough so that the Perv shouldn't have been able to stop me…" she trailed off as she looked down at what Tsubasa began pointing at, her eyes widening in shock.

"I was running pretty hard myself… But yet he stopped both of us in our tracks and… well that," Tsubasa said referencing the two shoe prints that cratered the sidewalk with spider web cracks surrounding it for a few feet. "I didn't even sense him while we were running, let alone any power from him." She stopped and looked down at her right hand, clenching and unclenching her fist a few times. "When I shook his hand it felt like I was drowning in his presence. Everything disappeared to the point where it felt like he was all that existed in the world."

Koneko frowned at the girl. "… Maybe he has a sacred gear. But I don't think it's a coincidence that he knew exactly where to… where t-"she trailed off, her face flushing again and her hidden Cat-ears twitched under the concealment illusion at the memory of one Issei Hyoudou petting her head.

Tsubasa frowned and looked towards the direction the mysterious snow haired boy had disappeared in. "Do you think he knows about the supernatural?" she asked the Devil in a hushed whisper.

"… There's no other explanation." Came the stoic reply.

The blunette sighed. "I need to inform Kaichou. I just hope he doesn't turn out to be an enemy."

Koneko nodded. "…I will inform Buchou as well. If you're going straight to Kaichou does that mean you've accepted her offer?"

Tsubasa shook her head and sighed, walking away towards the direction of the Student Council building. Koneko shook her head and began walking towards the Old School House where the Occult Research Club room resided.

One thought remained on both of their minds.

' _Who are you Hyoudou Issei?'_

 **A/N:** Well I wrapped that up Just shy of 8k words, the longest chapter I've ever written. I know it's been a long time since I've updated, but I plan to change that. I've had a lot of serious issues that I've had to deal with in life recently. Combine that with a severe lack of motivation for life in general let alone a story I've become really disappointed in and I haven't gotten around to writing anything. But I'm back and I will try to stay back and update regularly. Somehow I've still been getting followers and favorites on this story even a year after the last chapter and it really inspired me to come back and begin writing something that I believe is worthy of all of you. So I decided to rewrite the story from scratch and fix everything I hated with my first attempt.

There were a few jumps in the beginning, but I tried to write it in a way that wouldn't be confusing. As you probably noticed, this story starts off very AU. There will be a lot of things different in this story than in Canon, but there will be Canon things in here as well. After all this is a Fanfiction, not Canon-fiction.


	2. 2)Chocolate, Tensions, Misunderstandings

**A/N: I'm not dead guys I promise! Thanks for being patient and thank you all for all the great reviews on the last chapter. I did the best I could, but I probably have a few grammar and spelling errors here and there. If you find them, pm me or put it in your review and I'll fix it. Just don't be an ass about it.**

 **There will be a longer A/N at the bottom to talk about a few things, so without further ado.**

 **I Own Nothing**

 **Chapter 2: Chocolate, Tensions, and Misunderstandings**

 **A Few Days Later**

Issei sighed in content after finishing all but his chocolate bar from his lunch as he leaned back against a large oak tree in Kuoh Academy's garden. It was so peaceful here and a very well needed break from the other… students… in the school. The peaceful silence was only broken by the soft sounds of nature. From the gently blowing of the wind and swaying of the branches of trees to the soft skittering sounds of squirrels and the chirps of a few birds. His new favorite spot was located right next to a section of the garden filled with lavender plants. He had found this place by accident earlier in the week as he tried to hide from one of his two stalkers, and was just now getting a chance to spend his lunch break here.

He felt his eyes close and his mind began to wander over the last week that he had been here at the academy. It was… well, it's been an experience that's for sure. Growing up he didn't really get to play with other kids. With Yasaka being his guardian and being _who_ he is, the other kids either weren't allowed to play with him due to status or were simply just terrified of him. He only ever had Kunou and the She-Devil who were near him in age that he could ever really be around. Kunou was the light in his life, but she spent so much time being trained on her mother's duties and he spent so much time being schooled by his tutors or being smacked around by the Old Man, that they really only ever were able to share dinner and the occasional breakfast together. But on the rare occasion when they could, they spent all the time they could together.

The She-Devil on the other hand… Is the exact opposite. Issei shivered. He couldn't get away from her. She followed him around like a lost… well animal. He'd say puppy but the last time he said that she had gotten so offended that she nearly ripped his head off. She tagged along to every tutoring session and proceeded to do nothing but attempt to… distract him. Issei blushed and quickly shook those thoughts away. But she also came with him to all of his training sessions, and when she wasn't napping during them she's actually very helpful. As a powerhouse in her own right, she helped him understand things better when the Old Man was being cryptic, and she also helped him understand some of the more complex aspects of the Sage Arts that she's so fond of. The only down side to their friendship was the fact that she could never leave the Shrine where they lived.

But that would never be enough to make him care about their friendship any less. Though Issei would be the first to admit that she's obnoxiously loud, extremely overbearing, lewd, very rude, a complete dunce, is by FAR the LAZIEST person he'd ever met, and above all else… she is his best friend in the whole world. Because as much as she grates on his nerves sometimes {read ' _ALL the time'_ } she's always there for him when he needs her, even when he doesn't realize he does.

The She-Devil is one of the many reasons why he agreed to the mission Yasaka gave him. When he accepted the mission he knew the sacrifices he would eventually be required to make, and between her and Kunou? The price was something he was far more than happy to pay.

He shook his head to rid himself of those thoughts. Dwelling on the past was quickly becoming a bad habit of his. And it's one he really need to get rid of.

'" _Ise-nii! The past is the past-Nya. Ya can't change it so just keep looking forward-Nyaa!"'_

A soft blush spread across his cheeks from all of his memories of the two of them together and he let out a small chuckle at all the trouble the two of them got into. He really didn't know what he'd do without her. His blush deepened as he imagined a huge version of Yasaka appearing in the sky above him with her hands clasped together and her eyes sparkling with joy. Wedding bells tolled in the background and doves surrounded her with little hearts dancing around her.

'" _OH! My little Ise-chan is all grown up and going off on his own! He'll soon be getting married and give me lots and lots of Grandch-"'_

Issei's blush intensified to the color of blood and immediately sat up and punched himself in the face to clear his head of the memory of her extremely embarrassing farewell. Hard. He gripped his hair and shook his head side to side in frustration.

' _What the hell is wrong with me lately?'_

Before he could continue that train of thought however, his thoughts (and his peace) was broken by a curt, monotone voice.

 **_Issei POV_**

"… You're in my spot, Perv"

I froze and slowly cracked one eye and saw a pair of tiny feet in a pair of Kitten Converse shoes. I slowly and shakily tilted my head up as I took in the information before me.

Kuoh Academy skirt? Check.

Kuoh Academy blouse? Check.

Weird Cape thing? Check.

Amber eyes? Check.

Cute face? Double Check.

No emotions on said cute face? Check.

White hair? *Sigh* Check.

In front of me with one hand on her hip and the other carrying a freakishly large Bento was none other than Koneko Toujou. The second year who I had mistakenly took for a middle school student due to her small stature. I mean don't get me wrong. I knew EXACTLY who she was at the time. I just didn't know how old she was when I first met her. That particular piece of information was never given to me. Imagine my surprise { _read 'Horror'_ } when I showed up to my first class and there she and that hot treasurer were. One scowling at me, and the other refusing to even look my way for some reason.

To top it all off, the girl had been stalking me all damn week. So, I've been trying my hardest to avoid her as much as possible. So far I had been quite successful outside of class… well besides that ONE night… but it seems my luck has ran out… Wait what is she saying?

"…Stop staring at me like that, Perv. It's… unsettling." She monotone with a very faint red hue dusting her cheeks.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to stare."

"… humph… now move, Perv."

This time I caught what she had called me

"HEY! I'm not a Perv," I retorted with indignation, "And what do you mean 'Your spot?'. I was here first."

"… Yeah… tell that to the Kendo club." She replied scathingly as she looked at me like I was something she stepped in.

It felt like an arrow had been shot through my chest as I leapt to my feet, my hands clenched as I tried to plead my innocence to few day old (and completely **FALSE** ) charge.

"That was a COMPLETE misunderstanding! I wasn't peaking on them. It was a total case of wrong place, wrong time!"

By now it felt like all of the blood in my body had rushed to my face. It was worse than the time Yasaka accused me of peaking on them in the bath, albeit jokingly. This girl however was completely serious.

I think.

"… I'm sure that what any Perv would say the same thing to cover up their actions."

 _ **Thunk.**_ Another arrow.

"Ugh, I swear if I HAD peaked on them and got caught, which I most definitely did NOT, I would have manned up and taken responsibility for it. Not try and come up with excuses to hide it."

"…So basically… if you wouldn't get caught you would have peaked on them."

 _ **Thunk.**_ Yup. Definitely serious.

"I DIDN'T SAY THAT! Stop twisting my words!"

"… _You're the worst_."

 _ **THUNK**_. _**THUNK**_. _**THUNK**_.

Anymore and I swear this girl will kill me with words alone! From dealing with the Student Council President, to the interrogations the teenagers at this school put me through, to the incident with the Kendo Club, to this… girl stalking me, and finally to this? The frustrations of the past week welled up in me and I just snapped at her.

"God damnit! Listen here, White Cat! I am-"

My eyes widened in realization of what I had just said and slammed my hand over my mouth far too late to prevent the slip of my tongue. Everything became deathly silent around us.

I looked down at her as her amber eyes had widened significantly and I could literally see the panic and fear in her eyes at what I had just called her. The poor thing couldn't help but let her aura spike from the shock. I'm guessing not many people knew she was a devil. And I'm willing to bet quite a lot on the fact that of those that knew, even fewer know she's a Nekoshou as well.

And I just had to go and screw everything up and jeopardize everything, simply because I let her rattle me.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, and after a few seconds she opened them and they quickly hardened to a look of both determination and resignation. Though just before that I swear I saw a flash of another emotion… sadness maybe?

She opened eye mouth and I thought she was either going to scream or curse me, but even I couldn't have predicted what she said next.

"… The chocolate bar…"

"Eh?"

The confusion must have been very evident on my face because she sighed and rolled her eyes in frustration before pointing at the chocolate bar in my possession.

"…Give me the chocolate bar and I'll let you sit here today."

"Never in my life… are you for real?"

Koneko growled viciously and her aura darkened considerably, becoming a dark miasma around her small frame. She slowly cocked back her fist and I internally grinned at her poor attempt of intimidation. Please, Yasaka and the She-Devil were far more intimidating. Hell Kunou could put this girl to shame. So I did the only natural thing.

…

…

…

…

I threw myself to my knees before her and presented the chocolate bar with both hands, head bowed.

"Please take it, White Cat-Sama!" I groveled.

"…You're weird…"

The white-haired girl froze and looked at me as if I'd grown a second head. Though the look didn't last long as she snatched the chocolate bar from my hands and ripped the packaging off and began nibbling contentedly on it and sat down next to me, leaning back against the tree with a huge smile on her face and eyes closed in bliss.

In this moment, seeing this somewhat emotionally happy side of her… It brought a smile to my face and also a small pang in my chest. She reminds me so much of Kunou. Well, at least when she's like this she does. The peaceful look on her face, its nice look on her. I couldn't help but think how much cuter she is when she doesn't have that emotionless scowl on her face.

A huge blush appeared on my face as I realized she had stopped nibbling and was looking at me with her head tilted slightly. Gone was her happy smile, but what had replaced it wasn't her typical scowl or neutral expression. Instead, there was a look of pure curiosity. I might even go so far as to say… fascination maybe?

 **_Narrator POV_**

Issei's thoughts were interrupted when Koneko spoke again.

"…thank you…"

Issei's face scrunched up in confusion. _'Why is she thanking me?'_ he wondered silently. 'For the chocolate bar, maybe?' For the life of him he couldn't figure out what she was referencing with her appreciation.

Koneko saw his look of confusion and couldn't help but let a tiny smile show on her lips. _'This boy…'_ She shook her head before looking back up at him.

"… For the chocolate… and for the other night with the cat." She said quietly.

Issei seemed to freeze in front of her before a huge smile broke out across his face and he let out a small laugh. At his laugh she looked away trying to hide the faint pink hue that dusted her cheeks from his reaction. _'Really though, this girl is way too cute for her own good.'_ Issei thought to himself. Even if she could be a pain in his ass sometimes.

Koneko took a deep breath to calm the weird feeling she was experiencing and turned back to him, that same curiosity and fascination returning. Then she asked a single, simple question that really caught Issei off guard.

"…What are you?"

Ahh… There it is. Issei hates that question. He could feel the frown form on his lips and tried to look away before the pang of sadness became evident in his heterochromatic eyes. But Koneko saw it before he could turn away completely. Issei's green eye twitched in pain so he closed his eyes and took a deep breath to weather the pain. _'Every damn time… Stupid thing.'_ He thought wistfully, before turning back to her with a small smirk in place of his frown. But the smirk never reached his eyes, nor did any other emotion.

' _Yet another fake mask.'_ Koneko thought to herself.

"Me? I'm just an awkward guy trying to live a somewhat normal life for a while." Issei chuckled out.

When her eyes narrowed ever so slightly in a _'You really expect me to believe that?'_ way, he sighed with a smile (genuine this time), and unconsciously reached out stunning the poor Neko girl and began petting her head gently. Just like he does to the She-Devil every time she catches him feeling down and calls him out on it.

Koneko at first almost lashed out at him for touching her head… again… but the moment he did she felt a shiver go down her spine, and she couldn't help but to relax and ever so slightly tilt her head into it. The feeling was so familiar to her and I made her feel so safe. It was a feeling she couldn't understand, and in the moment she really didn't care. It sent warm tingles down her spine and reminded her of when she was little. Her parents used to pet her head just like this when she was a very small child. It's just sooo soothing. She almost felt herself dozing off from the gentle treatment, but suddenly opened her eyes as two realizations hit her at the same time.

First, was that she remembered that her parents had used Senjutsu to calm her and her sister when they were small children. They would let small wisps of the natural energy trickle down her and her sister's system in miniscule amounts to relax their muscles and help them clear their minds. It was the exact same method he had used to nearly lull her to sleep, albeit his use of the Sacred Art had been so subtle she had almost failed to notice it at all. Secondly, and most importantly, he was no longer petting her head. When she had looked up, he had been gone. There was no sound, nor any indication that he had left. It all but confirmed her suspicions. She may not know exactly who or what he is, but she did know this:

 _Issei Hyoudou is a part of the Supernatural world, or is at least a practitioner of a supernatural art, and above all else… just using that art makes him extremely dangerous._

Koneko immediately got up and dusted herself off. She had to warn Buchou about this. She had to warn her about him. They had suspicions about him, but they never had any real evidence until now.

She stretched a little before turning towards the old school building. _'White Cat huh? That's the first time he's addressed me by any sort of name since the first time we met… I guess I don't really hate it… Though I would prefer it if he called me Koneko instead.'_ Her cheeks flamed up again and she shook her head violently trying to clear THAT though out of her head.She paused and looked at one of the trees on the other side of the garden when movement caught her eye.

"I could've sworn…" she trailed off and sighed, thinking it was a figment of her imagination and headed towards the Old School House building, which was the headquarters of the ORC.

 **_Line Break_**

Issei sighed as he stepped out from behind the tree. It had been a really close call and he didn't know how he was going to get out of that one. Seeing her like that? The two of _them_ were far more similar than he had realized at first. He had just reacted out of instinct.

' _That was far more trouble than it was worth,'_ he bemoaned to himself.

He would have to be far more careful proceeding forward. The stakes had just risen considerably with revealing himself far earlier than he had wanted. Granted, he had always intended to reveal himself, but he had planned to do it in his own time after surveilling them a bit more to get a better understanding of them as beings rather than just as Devils. However, with him revealing so much to Koneko unintentionally she would have no choice but to report back to Rias. Which, speaking of Rias Gremory…

A tingle at the back of his neck alerted him to the possibility of someone watching him from afar. He looked over his shoulder towards the far side of the Garden in the direction of the Old Schoolhouse building. The building on the outside appeared to be worn down. It was a 3 story building, and about as wide as it was tall. In terms of Club rooms go, the ORC by far had the largest area allotted to them. It's also the most secluded from the rest of the school. Not many wanted to accidentally walk in on a ritual to summon ghosts or whatever students thought the ORC really did.

But there on the top floor, in the far left window stood a figure as strikingly beautiful as they come. Even from this distance he could clearly make out every stunningly beautiful feature of the tall Crimson-haired girl. He felt himself freeze momentarily when their eyes made contact with each other's. He started to wonder how long the woman had been observing him.

' _Ugh… I don't have time for this.'_

"Rias." He muttered quietly and rolled his eyes as he turned and walked back towards the main school building as the warning bell began to ring. Before he crossed the threshold of the school he through, he pointed two fingers up and waved them to his side dismissively in a farewell and disappeared into the building.

 **_Line Break_**

 **Occult Research Club Room**

The club room was located at the far side of Kuoh Academy in the old school building, but had direct view of the school's gate, and the school's famous garden from the 3rd floor window. A redhead girl stood in said window and gazed out over the school grounds lost in thought. Even by the highest of standards, she could be said to be extremely beautiful. Her long crimson red hair cascaded down her shoulders to her lower back, with a couple strands that framed her heart shaped face. Her eyes were a mesmerizing blue-green that showed a conflicting image of innocence, yet held traces of cunningness beyond her years. She stood around 5'7 and had a figure that enticed even the most prude of men and women alike. She wore the standard Kuoh Academy girl's uniform with her top somehow containing her overly large bust and her skirt being scandalously short.

She was drawn from her thoughts when she saw a boy. Not just any boy, mind you. Her thoughts were broken by one Hyoudou Issei, the most enigmatic boy in year two, if not the whole school. No one knew hardly anything about him. The only thing anyone knew was his name, his favorite color was red and hated the color white for some reason, and that the only person who he went out of his way to talk to was Tsubasa Yura, her Rook Koneko, and most surprisingly the Kendo Captain and Vice-Captain. If anything it seemed Tsubasa was the first person he seemed to be friends with at all, while he maintained a weird yet comfortable relationship with Koneko. It was a strange relationship to her, but the petite girl definitely seemed to enjoy his presence more than she would probably ever admit out loud any time soon. As for the two kendo girls, it was more of a relationship between a mentor and student. Ever since the "Perverted Duo" tried to use him as a scapegoat and he had met the Kendo Club's challenge, the two girls had begun dragging him off after class to have him spar with them. He claimed to be an amateur at best with only a few years of training. However, his effortless defeat of the first and third rank Kendo practitioners of their age group in the nation made Rias highly doubt that. According to Kiba, who had been watching the exchange, Issei seemed to be struggling to hold back rather than struggling to win. And to add to his mystery, he was the top of his class and yet he slept through most of his classes.

Sona had been baffled and angered by the boy ever since he showed up halfway through the term. He had shown up his first day, then the next took the midterm exams and aced all of them. She gave him warning after warning that he needed to stay awake in class regardless of his grades but he blew off her warnings with hardly more effort than a shrug much to Sona's frustration and Rias's own amusement.

Which drew her to the final thing she knows about him. He claims to know nothing about the supernatural and they are unaware of what his actual species is. For all intents and purposes, his aura and body appear to be completely human. On the other hand, several Strays from all factions that have appeared in her territory tend to suddenly, and quite violently perish. And somehow Issei is always in the general vicinity on some odd errand or other. Whenever she would have Koneko try to subtly confront him about anything supernatural related his answer is always the same.

" _I honestly have no idea what you're talking about... Are you sure being in that Cult club is a good idea?"_

It was quite endearing, and yet also incredibly infuriating that he won't admit it. But as he doesn't cause any other trouble, other than the occasional, albeit gruesome, mess, so Sona and she tend to let him do as he pleases. Everything about him seems to SCREAM mystery, all the while hiding a small undertone of danger behind that innocent smile of his.

For his part, the boy had maintained the utmost of courtesies towards both peerages, even going so far as to offer to help Sona with her student council paperwork from time to time. Though Rias was sure that it was merely a front to get on Sona's good side so she would lay off of him. And he had even helped Koneko out on one of her contracts. She giggled softly into her hand as she remembered how flustered the white haired girl was when she came back.

Apparently one of her normal contractors had lost his cat and was in a very frantic state searching for it. She used a few magic spells to locate the cat, but when her and her contractor had arrived (he insisted on coming as well) his cat was sitting injured on a branch fairly high up the tree. Koneko was originally just going to fly up to grab the cat, but the moment her wings popped out the cat freaked out and got scared. After her contractor begged her repeatedly to not frighten the cat in case it hurt it hurt itself any more than it already was. Koneko was apparently stumped on how to get the cat down gently since her specialty was breaking things.

Then Koneko's savior arrived. Issei had apparently noticed the cat in the tree and had walked over to get it out when he ran into Koneko and her contractor. He ended up climbing the tree and saved the cat and seemingly unknowingly helping Koneko complete her contract. And when Koneko got back? She couldn't help but giggle at the memory.

 **_Flashback_**

 _It was another boring night at the ORC for Koneko. Kiba and Akeno were both still out doing contracts. Usually she would be out too, but Koneko only had one contract come in tonight. It was only to help her eldest contractor with moving furniture around in her house, so that took less than an hour. Since then everything had been quiet._

 _As the petite girl reached into her bag to pull out another sweet she sighed softly. She didn't have very many left. She glanced up at Rias Gremory, the King of her peerage. The redhead girl was busy with her work that was sprawled messily over her desk. Tomes that are older than most humans have been alive were scattered around her desk, with the oldest three open in front of the teenager._

 _A small frown took over the white haired girl's normally stoic expression. Rias has been working herself to death for the past year. Ever since Sona had been able to break off her arrangement last year Rias has been spending nearly every waking moment pouring over the Ancient bylaws of the devils, searching for something, ANYTHING, to help her get out of her marriage arrangement with Raiser Phenex. Especially the last 3 months._

 _Suddenly Rias looked up as a small magic circle appeared above her desk and a small brown piece of paper floated down, which she grabbed out of the air. She pushed her glasses up to the top of her head and looked the paper over, before glancing up at her Rook._

" _Sorry Koneko-chan," she sighed and levitated the summoning slip over to the white haired girl. "It looks like you've got another contract tonight."_

 _The small Rook caught the summoning slip and read it over as well before nodding. She stood up and closed her eyes, concentrating. In just a few short seconds a large red magic circle appeared under her and she disappeared in a swirl of crimson light. Rias looked left and right sneakily, and upon confirming the absence of her whole peerage she sighed and let herself collapse on her desk exhausted._

" _Why does everything have to be so damn difficult?" she groaned._

 _ **_2 Hours Later_**_

 _A Flash of crimson light startled Rias awake. She hastily wiped the drool off her desk and sat up, shuffling paperwork as she dropped her glasses back to her nose. She may be tired but she didn't want to worry her precious peerage members. She pretended to busy herself as she let the aura of her Rook wash over her. She let out a small smile and started to address Koneko as she materialized into the room._

" _So Koneko-chan, how did your contract go?" she asked lightly, and slowly looked up at the white hair girl, only to stiffen as her eyes widened in shock._

"… _Baka Hentai Senpai… The nerve of him… I am not… I AM NOT…" she trailed off as she registered Rias's question. "…How did it go…?" The short girl muttered through clenched teeth? She slowly looked up at her King, eyes wide in anger and her face blood red in rage._

" _Koneko?!" Rias jumped from her seat and hurried to her precious servant and began looking her all over checking for injury. "Did something happen? Were you attacked? Did he try to do strange things to you?" Rias asked concerned and panicked._

"… _Yes." The short Rook muttered in indignation. But her eyes widened as she felt Rias's aura grow violent and begin to roll off of her in waves. The air became hot and oppressive as Rias's eyes flickered from blue-green to a crimson color. The furniture around her began moving back from the sheer pressure her aura emitted._

" _ **When I find that monster I'm going to make sure there's not a trace of him left for touching my cute and adorable servant. I will hunt his whole family and destroy them until nothing remains except ash, and then I'll-"**_

 _Rias's burst of power had snapped her out of her state of mind enough to try and defuse the angry King._

"… _Buchou wait…" Koneko's voice made Rias pause in her tirade and stopped her from teleporting to her contractor and inevitably killing the poor innocent man. Rias tilted her head to the side inquisitively and waited for Koneko to continue._

"… _He didn't do anything strange… well he didn't at least…" Koneko started fidgeting and swaying unsteadily on her feet, with her face growing redder and redder with every word. "…I mean HE didn't really do anything strange either… I mean he did… but it wasn't bad… I t-think… I-I mean… UGGGGGHHHHH" The petite girl all but threw herself onto the couch, burying her face into the pillow and started banging her fists into the cushion, which unintentionally began making the whole building shake._

" _Koneko!" Rias gasped, recoiling in shock, wonder, surprise, and fear at the smaller girl's outburst. Her oppressive aura disappeared instantly. Never in all their time together had Rias EVER seen Koneko have an outburst. She had always been this stoic girl who wouldn't let her emotions show to her or anyone at all. And now? She's suddenly throwing a fit on the couch, and the worst part is that Rias can't tell whether its anger… or something more._

" _Koneko-chan, talk to me. Tell me what happened." Rias tried to soothe the girl as she sat down beside her and gently stroked her back trying to get the Nekoshou to calm down enough to talk to her. She needed to find out what had caused this reaction from the normally stoic girl so she can decide whether to destroy it… or thank it._

"… _e et I ed gan…" came the muffled response of Koneko whose face was buried deep into the pillow in embarrassment._

 _Rias sweat dropped at the muffled response. "Huh? I couldn't hear you Koneko-chan."_

 _Koneko groaned and wiggled some more before turning over hand hiding her eyes under her hands… though this did NOT hide her burning crimson cheeks._

"… _Het pet my head again…" she mumbled out, blushing harder._

 _And that was when Rias realized something. Koneko wasn't mad, or at least not nearly as mad as what she had thought. She was… embarrassed. Rias covered her mouth to keep herself from giggling. And for Rias, that was quite hard. She was so proud of her cute little servant. She was finally beginning to open up a bit… and from what it sounded like, it had something to do with a HE. A boy._

" _Ahem." Rias coughed into her hand to help clear the laugh from her throat. She was very happy but she didn't want Koneko to clam up if she started teasing her. "Ok… So he pet your head? Is that a bad thing?"_

" _YES!" retorted Koneko quickly. Almost too quickly._

" _Oh and why's that? Aww! Did Koneko-chan enjoy it? Is that what's wrong?" Rias gently teased. She just couldn't help herself. She knew that there really must be something else bot-_

"… _yes…"_

" _That what I thought. I figured some- wait WHAT?!" Rias exclaimed, shocked at the sudden turn of events. Koneko actually liked it?! THAT'S what's bothering her?! Rias was speechless for the first time in a long while. Koneko? Of all people? Being this affected by some boy? 'He must be really something to get under my cute Rook's stoic personality,' she thought to herself as a small mischievous grin slowly._

 _Koneko noticed the grin slowly form on Rias's face and groaned audibly. 'I really don't need this right now…' she whined to herself. She could only sweat drop from the increasingly more obnoxious face her king was making. 'Please… please just don't…'_

" _fu fu fu… SOOO Ko~ne~ko-chan! Who's this Boy that's got you all flustered like this? Is he cute? Is he tall? Is he strong? Is he hefty? Is it someone I know?" Rias asked her rook with the little sparkles in her eyes growing larger with every question as she inched her face closer to Koneko with every word._

 _ ***Groan***_ _"…Buchooouuu! Please don't tease me… I don't know why I'm feeling like this…" the whitehaired girl lamented in frustration._

 _It was just the shorter girl's luck that a bright crimson light flashed into existence in the room and materialized into one Himejima Akeno._ _ ***GRROOOOAAN***_ _The absolute LAST person the Rook wanted to see right now. 'Why? Why of all people did she have to show up right now?!' Koneko whined to herself._

" _Ara Ara… Is Koneko-chan alright? She looks quite feverish with that red face?" Akeno inquired with a thoughtful look on her face. "Should I make some tea for you Koneko-chan?"_

 _Koneko ignored her and tried to turn away, but not before she caught the evil glint in Rias's eyes. 'Please no… not THAT look!'_

" _It seems our dear little Koneko-chan here has found herself smitten by a boy…" Rias told Akeno in a sing song voice. Koneko was obviously less then pleased with that assumption from the ORC President._

" _Ara? Oh really Koneko-chan? Who is this mystery boy?" the dark hair girl asked with little hearts growing in her own eyes as she got just as close to the embarrassed girl as Rias had. Rias's smirk grew larger and winked at Akeno playfully. Then she put on a mock thoughtful look and crossed her arms under her breasts and began tapping her index finger on her chin as she looked up in thought._

" _Hmmm, could it be Koneko? That you fell for the boy you've been stalking recently?" she asked innocently, her lips upturned into a huge mischievous grin._

 _Koneko's face turned blood red and she leapt to her feet. "N-N-N-NO! I'm N-N-NOT S-STALKING HIM! Y-YOU HAD ME FOLLOW HIM B-BUCHOU!"_

" _Ara Ara? You didn't deny falling for him Koneko-chan! So does that mean it's true?! OH, how adorable! Rias, our little Koneko-chan is all grown up now!"_

" _Fu fu fu, it would seem so Akeno… Say Koneko-chan, you should bring him to the club so he can meet your "Family"." Rias teased the poor white-haired girl, putting air quotes around the word 'Family' to taunt her further._

 _It was at this point that Koneko had enough, "I… YOU… IM NOT…! UGGHH! I DON'T HAVE TO TAKE THIS FROM yOu TwWoO…!" she cried out as tears of embarrassment started pouring out of her eyes and she ran literally through the door, not bothering to open it in her haste to get away from her_ _ **King**_ _and_ _ **Queen**_ _._

 _Rias and Akeno both stared slack-jawed slowly turned and stared wide-eyed at each other in amazement and shock._

…

 _.._

 _._

 _._

 _.._

…

" _PFFFTHAAHAHAHAHA!" They both erupted into laughter. They couldn't help it. It was just that rare of sight to see stoic little Koneko so worked up over something, much less a boy of all things. They both choked back their laughter, but it was really difficult. Rias struggled to find her way back to her chair at her desk and took deep breaths to calm down. Akeno recovered a bit quicker however, and she began to make some tea for the both of them._

" _fu fu fu… Do you think she'll hate us tomorrow Akeno?" Rias asked giggling._

" _I think things will be fine… I don't think she'll hate us. Shell be mad for a while though… But it's our duty as Sempai to tease our cute Kouhai." Akeno replied thoughtfully._

" _Is that so? I was just so surprised at her reaction… This boy must be very special in that case." Rias thought out loud as she began poking at one of the chess pieces on the chessboard in front of her._

" _Very special in deed." Was the Queen's only reply as she set the cup of tea in front of Rias._

 **_Flashback End_**

Rias's smile slowly faded from the memory as she realized something that made her breath hitch and her eyes go wide.

Issei was staring back at her seemingly in… annoyance? His heterochromatic eyes seemed to pierce into her very soul, and from the distance he shouldn't really even be able to make out who she was. And that's not even taking into account the widespread Concealment Charm that had been placed on the building. A chill went down her spine and the feeling froze her in place. Their gazes held each other captive momentarily before Issei broke it off muttering something that she was sure was her name, despite not hearing the actual word. He walked towards the building and waved her off as he entered the school.

She whirled away from her desk panicking slightly, and began pacing back and forth in front of her desk, her thoughts pouring out of her mouth without realizing.

"He saw me watching him, there's no way that's possible. The Concealment charm should obscure the vision of anyone who tries to look in here from the outside. It should be impossible, especially for a human without any enhancements He was across the Garden but he still saw me… He made eye contact and said my name."

Rias sat back down in her chair and leaned back while pushing her finger tips together as she thought about everything she knew about the boy. Things just didn't add up.

She needed answers, and she wanted them NOW. She lifted her hand up to her ear and a blood red magic circle appeared next to her ear and smiled.

"Hello Sona."

' _Rias? Why are you contacting me at this time? You know I have my duties as the Student Council President to take care of.'_ came the irritated response of Sona.

"I need to talk to you about one of your students, Issei Hyoudou? I saw him do a few very peculiar things just now."

' _Hyoudou-san? What did he do?'_

"I've had Koneko tailing him since he got here. At first it was just the weird disappearances of strays since he showed up. But now…? He was able to see through the concealment charm on the Old School Building and looked directly into my eyes from across the garden like I was standing in front of him. He HAS to be related to the supernatural in some way. Nothing else seems to add up about him."

' _Oh? Are you scouting him out for a potential place in your peerage?'_ The tone of the girl grew a bit scathing. _'However, I hope you don't intend to try to seduce him, something like that in your situation wouldn't end well for either of you… especially him.'_

Rias's eyes glowed red and her aura began to leak at her presumption. "Sona you know very well that that is NOT how I run things. I'm merely contacting you to inform you that I am viewing him as a prospect…" she trailed off, taking a deep breath to calm down as she absentmindedly picked up her spare rook piece and examined it.

'… _Rias? You do know I was joking right? I know you would never do something like that'_ Sona asked, a hint of confusion in her voice.

"…o-oh…" Rias's voice faltered, "I-I just never knew you could make a joke…" Rias replied embarrassed.

' _S-seriously Rias? H-How uptight do you really thing I am…?_ ' Sona asked dejectedly.

"And just when was the last time you told a joke, Miss High and Mighty? Hmm?" Rias snapped back.

' _I-I'm going to just ignore that.'_ Came the SCP's retort. It was silent for a few moments before she spoke again. _'Rias… seriously though. Is everything ok? You've seemed distracted lately.'_

The crimson haired girl shook her head to clear it, _'Wow I've been doing that a lot lately.'_ She cleared her throat and nodded saying, "Yes, I'm fine. You know I'm just preoccupied with the whole Raiser situation." She forced her frown into a smirk with a mischievous glint taking over her eyes as she examined her Rook piece, "Out of curiosity what does your Treasurer think of the boy. I heard they've been getting QUITE close recently."

The groan on the other end followed by the snapping sound of the connection being cut off told her all she needed to know about what the blunette thought of the boy.

Her smile grew wider as she set her rook back on the board next to the opposing king, a large bird on fire with a crown on its head. Maybe this was a blessing, the answer to her prayers.

A hissing sound made it known next to her head. Another Communication Circle? And it's from Koneko?

"Hello Koneko-chan…" Rias answered the Comms Circle slowly. "Is everything ok?"

"…No it's not Buchou…"

"Oh? What do you mean? Does it have something to do with Issei Hyoudou?"

"…Y-yes… a few minutes ago I think… I think he used Senjutsu…"

Rias's whole expression morphed into shock and slight fear. "S-Senjutsu?! Are you sure?"

"…Y-yes Buchou… I-I'm almost p-positive." Koneko replied slightly shaken up.

Rias's eyes hardened. _'If she's right he may be extremely dangerous. I can't let him roam freely anymore knowing this. She decided that it was time to deal with him once and for all.'_ "Alright Koneko. Tell me everything."

Koneko quickly gave Rias the abridged version of everything that had just happened during lunch. Specifically talking about how he had nearly lulled her to sleep by slightly altering the flow of her energy using the Sage Art. Rias took all of the information in and was silent for several moments.

"…Buchou…?" Koneko asked uncertainly, unsure if Rias was even still there.

Rias said nothing at first, and instead opened a second Comms Circle.

"Kiba."

The lack of an honorific from Rias startled the third person who joined the conversation. He knew immediately that if Rias was using her serious voice then things were not good.

"Yes Buchou, I'm here."

"Good. I want you and Koneko to retrieve Issei Hyoudou and bring him to the club room after class. Use whatever means you need to, but try not to let things escalate. We don't know what level of power he has, so it would be best to not have our first interaction as Devils to Human come off as antagonistic."

"Understood."

"… Got It…"

Rias cut the link and collapsed at her desk burying her face in her arms. Things only seemed to get harder and harder for her every day. She groaned out in frustration.

" **Just who are you Issei Hyoudou?"**

 **_Line Break_**

 ***BRING***

Issei stifled a yawn as he slowly sat up at his desk, blinking the sleep away from his somewhat bloodshot eyes. A groan escaped his lips as he slowly stretched his arms above his head and pushed his legs as far out in front of him as he could to help alleviate some of the sleepiness from his system. As he blinked the tiredness from his eyes, he began to look around at his surroundings and noticed a few things that sent alarm bells ringing in his mind.

All of the students had quickly gathered their belongings and had begun to file out of the room quickly without socializing with each other. For teenagers as talkative as his classmates were it definitely was odd. But the truly alarming thing is that Koneko was staring at him unblinkingly with determination in her amber eyes. Their eyes met and locked, neither backing down from their intense stare. Issei tensed unconsciously and the hair on the back of his neck began to stand on end. Something was definitely wrong.

His suspicions were confirmed as a third person entered the room, but he didn't spare the newcomer a glance. He refused to back down from Koneko's unspoken challenge. Their contest began to heat up and the atmosphere of the room became oppressive under the intensity of their wills. Their contest continued for several moments before the newcomer broke the silence, and their silent battle.

"Ahem…"

At the sound the male had made, Koneko straightened and rolled her eyes as she stood up.

"…Hmmph."

A small smirk made its way to Issei's face in victory, and at her defeat he finally turned to look at the newcomer. He let his eyes travel up and down the tall male for a moment. The male was quite tall, almost rivaling Issei for tallest in their year. He had blonde hair which was cut in a very fashionable style and definitely well kept. His uniform included the entirety of the male uniform, complete with even the blazer that no one else in their year ever wore outside the winter months. The whole ensemble did not have a single wrinkle tarnishing his look. His light blue eyes and thin lips showed a cheerful expression that was far too friendly. He also had an air of superiority that he seemed to try and pretend didn't exist, just like someone Issei knew from a LONG time ago.

"Hello there, I am Kiba Yuuto. I'm sure you have already met Koneko Toujou. May I call you Issei-san?" The blonde asked as he flashed a sickeningly dazzling smile that would no doubt cause the average teen girl to faint with little hearts in her eyes.

Issei decided right then and there that he did not particularly care for this pretty boy.

"Don't you think that's a bit too familiar for someone you just met?" Issei retorted annoyed at the blondes very presence.

"Hyoudou-kun then."

"Oi, I think you have a misunderstanding here."

"Now then, Koneko-Chan and I both belong to the Occult Research club. Our President has taken quite the interest in you since you arrived, and she would greatly appreciate the opportunity to speak with you." The blonde continued, undeterred at Issei's obvious annoyance at the way he decided to address him.

Issei turned to Koneko with an eyebrow raised.

"Is 'Pretty Boy' over there always like that? Or is this just a special occasion?"

Koneko just shrugged dismissively, "… More or less."

*Sigh*

Issei turned back to the blonde. "I'm guessing that the reason why everyone left in a hurry was your doing?"

Kiba just smiled brighter. "Nothing escapes your notice, huh Hyoudou-kun?"

Issei rolled his eyes and grit his teeth to keep himself from decking the insufferable blonde. Pretty boys like him just always rubbed him the wrong way. He stood up from his desk and began to gather his things and began to question the blonde without sparing him another glance.

"So who is this club President of yours?" Issei asked, trying to garner more information than what he had more or less already suspected.

"Well, the President of our club is Gremory Rias."

*Pause*

"Oh? That red-headed foreigner?"

"… Well I suppose that you're not wrong." Kiba answered slowly after a momentary hesitation.

"And I suppose she asked you to ensure that I arrive at the Occult Research Club by _**any**_ _means necessary_?" Issei asked, stressing the last few words in an unspoken challenge.

Issei's question caused the two devils to stiffen uncomfortably. A heavy silence permeated the room, broken only by the sound of Issei tossing items into his bag. He stood up, tossing his bag over his shoulder and gripping the strap tightly. He glanced at Koneko who stood stock still with a frown on her face, hesitation and uncertainty evident in her eyes. He noticed the pair of fingerless cat gloves on her hands that weren't on her hands during class. Issei slowly turned towards Kiba with narrowed eyes. The blonde's cheerful expression hadn't changed, but his stance had slightly changed and his smile no longer showed in his eyes. Now his left hand was gripping at his belt. Right where a sword would typically hang.

"So basically if I declined her invitation you would take me there by force?" Issei asked his voice light, completely opposing the oppressive atmosphere that began to fill the room.

"Well, Buchou didn't exactly forbid us from using force, but she did request we try to be as civil as possible." Kiba answered politely.

"Hmm, Is that… **soo**?" Issei replied softly with the last word being stressed with a slight growl.

A swirl of energy surrounded Kiba's hand, naked to the untrained eye, but not to Issei. He slowly looked up and locked eyes with the blonde. Harsh heterochromatic eyes narrowed as they bore into tense blue. Issei's eyes flashed violet momentarily and Kiba flinched back, his entire body breaking out into a sweat. Koneko also noticed the flash and tensed as well.

Issei's whole body tensed and the sound of joints popping could be heard loudly in the silence. His whole presence felt like it was swelling up and encompassing both of the devils. Kiba could only stare frozen and wide eyed into Issei's mismatching orbs. His heart beat loud in his own ears.

 _ **Ba-Dum**_

Issei stance lowered slightly and tensed in a battle-like stance.

 _ **BA-dum**_

Kiba snapped out of his shock and narrowed his eyes, an object began forming in his left hand.

 _ **BA-DUM**_

The pendant at Issei's neck began to glow red and his form began to shimmer as the pendant began to struggle to conceal his raging Aura.

 _ **BA-DUM BA-DUM**_

Just as the hilt formed in Kiba's hand and he began to unsheathe it, Issei smirked and his foot dug slightly into the floor, his whole body tensing to rush the blonde. However, before his body could fully commit he was stopped by the feeling of flesh against his palm.

 _ ***CLASP***_

"E -eh?!"

Issei let out a startled gasp as he was whipped around away from Kiba and began to be dragged out of the room. His eyes widened as he looked down and realized that Koneko had closed the distance between them and had grabbed his left hand with her now ungloved right one. His whole face instantly began burning hot.

"O-Oi! Oi! W-white Cat… W-w-what're you doing?!" Issei stammered out his question. He didn't even try to resist the small girl as she drug him out of the classroom and into the hallway, leaving a stunned Kiba staring after them slack jawed and wide eyed.

Issei couldn't see at the time but Koneko was desperately trying to hide the bright crimson blush that she was currently sporting. It took Issei a few moments to come to his senses, but when he did he sped up a bit to walk side by side Koneko. Koneko refused to look at him however. He awkwardly looked at their joined hands and put his right hand behind his head and laughed awkwardly.

"H-hey… Uhm you can let go now. Ill follow you to the ORC without running." Issei managed to say, unable to look at the shorter girl and scratching his cheek awkwardly as he tried to convince her to stop holding his hand.

She tilted her head slightly for a moment as if she were in thought then shook her head.

"… You could be lying. Just deal with it till we get there." She said and consciously adjusted her hand in his to get a better grip.

Unfortunately (or fortunately) for Issei, she had now interlocked their fingers. His face heated up even more and couldn't help himself for being embarrassed. This was NOT how he had envisioned this whole thing playing out. He had been preparing for a fight sure. Granted he wasn't expecting someone as insufferable as that pretty boy, but was expecting a fight nonetheless. Being dragged off by the hand by a cute girl? Nothing could have prepared him for that, much less for it to be who it was that damn near kidnapped him for the ORC.

But things were better than he could have ever imagined. A small grin formed on his lips. Although completely unexpected, that's not to say he isn't enjoying it. It's definitely a nice feeling. His face heated up a bit more as his grin grew a bit wider as he let himself enjoy the moment.

"…What're you grinning so hard for you Perv?" Koneko deadpanned at him with a light tinge of pink still evident on her cheeks.

Issei just looked down at their hands and then back up at her. "Do I really need to dignify that with a response White Cat?"

"…D-DON'T G-GET ANY W-WEIRD IDEAS! T-this I-is just because I h-have to!" She stammered out, her face reddening with every word. "…it's only to make sure you don't run away…" she finished in a quiet voice, glancing from side to side and fidgeting as she spoke, seemingly trying to convince herself more than him.

' _Now's my way out! Don't mess this UP!'_ Issei thought to himself triumphantly.

He pulled her to a stop in front of a set of double doors. She 'eep'd' slightly at the sudden stop before he gingerly pushed her against the oak doors. His right hand he rested against the door above her head, while he kept holding her other hand firmly. She stared up into his eyes and became mesmerized at how softly he was looking down at her. A small smile spread across his lips. A genuine smile. The first she had seen him show since she met him.

"White Cat-chan… I would never run away from you…" He whispered softly do her, a small line of pink tinging his cheeks as he said those words to her. As she stared into his eyes she couldn't detect any falseness in his statement. Butterflies went crazy in her stomach and she could feel her cheeks flaming up badly. She looked away and squeezed his hand a bit tighter unconsciously.

"…W-what're you d-doing saying s-s-something like t-that now…?" she muttered cutely. She had never felt anything like this before. No one had ever said anything like that in that way to her before either. Her thoughts were broken when she felt his hand slip from her own. She went to glance down at his hand, but was caught off guard when she felt his hand gently cup her cheek. She stiffened in shock at the touch, but didn't recoil. It wasn't unpleasant to her... it was just… she couldn't explain it.

She felt him gently turn her head back so she was looking at him. He tilted his head slightly and smiled at her again. The sight made her heart beat faster and she felt like she couldn't breathe.

"I'm just being honest with you… if that's what you're asking…" Issei whispered to her, his voice becoming a bit huskier than he had intended. There was just something about her that made him lose control like this continuously.

She blushed harder and gently leaned into his hand, glancing away in embarrassment. Her cheeks blushing brighter as he continued.

"White Cat-chan is very important to me… whether she knows it or not…" he trailed off, his cheeks glowing brighter as well. She looked back up into his eyes and couldn't look away. She was mesmerized by them. But suddenly she realized that his eyes were slowly getting larger.

Or were they getting closer?

'W-W-WHY IS H-HE C-CLOSING THEM SLOWLY?!' she internally panicked.

She felt his hand shift slight and could almost feel him petting the top of her head, but his hand hadn't landed yet. Was he going to kiss her? A major internal struggle raged within her between accepting the situation, or to push him away. In the end even she was surprised when she slowly leaned forward and began closing her eyes as well.

'I CANT BELIEVE IM DOING THIS! WHAT IF I MESS IT UP?!' her panicking grew worse, but her resolve didn't waiver. Despite how embarrassing the situation was. She couldn't deny that it was a situation that she was actually happy about.

Meanwhile, Issei was having his own internal struggle. When he realized she wasn't planning on pushing him away he completely froze. His hand was just lightly grazing the top of her head and their faces were unbearably close. He glanced, wide eyed down at her lips and gulped. _'They look so soft… I really want to…'_ He began to sweat slightly and tried to clear his head of those thoughts. He needed to get out of the situation he was in and deal with it another time when he was more prepared.

But now? With her so close? It was like his brain had stopped functioning properly. Butterflies raged in his chest as he fought with the moral conundrum he was currently in. A war between what he wants and what he needs to do.

He could just close the ever shrinking distance between them and take the easy, yet arguably more pleasurable path. Regardless of how extremely dangerous this option was, he couldn't help but truly want it.

On the other hand…?

His hand finally came to a rest on the top of her head and he gently stroked her hair. It was so silky and so soft. He couldn't help but let his fingers tangle slightly in her hair and enjoy the feeling. He finally came to a decision with a gulp as he let his hand trail down towards the back of her head.

But before he could go any further he felt his whole body lose its equilibrium.

"Eh?"

His surprised gasp and subsequent tumble to the floor behind Koneko snapped her out of her mesmerized state. Her eyes flew open and looked down to see Issei half in the hallway and half inside the room behind the double door. He groaned on the floor and had one eye shut in pain from his sudden fall. The person responsible for his fall let out a small giggle, letting herself be noticed by the pair.

"Ara Ara Koneko-chan… I know Buchou said by any means necessary, but I never thought that you would seduce him to get him here!" the tall dark haired Akeno Himejima remarked teasingly. Her hand was still on the door knob, so it was obvious to Koneko that Issei had fallen when she had opened the door.

"…N-N-NO! It wasn't like that…!"

A huge blush covered her face when she realized how close the two of them had come to k-k-ki-. Koneko shook her head like crazy and grabbed her hair trying to clear her head of the embarrassing interaction. She almost face palmed at how stupid she was for letting that happen here in front of the ORC instead of somewhere else! Her embarrassment was only compounded by the Queen's next teasing remark.

"If you'd like Koneko-chan… I can close the door again and you two can take a few more minutes to finish what you were doing…" she winked at the shorter girl and giggled again at the cute face Koneko was making. Literal steam began to pour from the poor girl's ears as the past few minutes overrode her ability to put the thoughts out of her head.

The way he had pushed her against the wall… The feeling of him staring down at her so caringly with those eyes… The feeling of his hand against her cheek… The feeling of his hand stroking her head again… His breath against her lips… his… Wait… _**His hand stroking her head?**_

Koneko slowly turned her head, an ominous creaking sound being heard. Issei froze on his place on the floor as the killing intent washed over him. He slowly looked up at Koneko and began to sweat heavily from the dark miasma that was rolling off of her. Her eyes were hidden behind her bangs, leaving a shadow across the top of her face that only added to the terror running down Issei's spine.

"…Heeeey peeeerv…" She grit out between her teeth. She slowly lifted her head revealing wide, unblinking eyes that caused Issei to gulp in fear. "…You weren't going to use that trick of yours to escape again were you…?" She asked as she began to advance on the downed boy. "…C'mon… Answer me…" Issei began sliding backwards and sputtering out, trying to form a coherent answer in the face of the terrifying image in front of him.

"W-w-what? N-no way! I w-w-wouldn't do that White Cat-chan!"

"…Oh? Now why don't I believe you…?"

"H-hey now… W-we can t-talk this out y-you know! HELP!" Issei screamed like a girl and leapt in the opposite direction of the raging devil. However, he ended up just slamming his head into the large wooden desk that was just behind him. Stars danced in the corners of his vision as he groaned and tried to blink the pain away.

Once his vision cleared slightly he looked up into the eyes of an Angel that had come to save him. With long crimson hair and beautiful Blue-green eyes, her beauty would've taken his breath away if the situation were any different than what it was. Instead he could only groan in pain and whimper out.

"…Are you here to save me from the wrath of "The Yandere White Cat?"

"Fu fu fu…" The girl giggled stood up. "You're cute. I can see why shed be so smitten with yo-" She quickly covered her mouth behind her hand as if she had revealed something she wasn't supposed to. "In most situations I wouldn't mind saving you… But you've done something unforgivable Issei-kun… You've played with the heart of a maiden you know?" she gestured to the still obviously pissed off Koneko and sighed, walking around to the other side of her desk to sit down.

"Doing such a thing…? Well you'll need to take responsibility for your actions Issei-kun…" She waved her hand in Koneko's direction with a sad smile. The Rook perked up slightly and began cracking her knuckles as she approached the White haired boy.

"Some savior you are…" Issei bemoaned.

Koneko grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and began dragging him back out of the room. Issei tried to struggle away, but it was futile. The short girl just had too much damn strength. So he resigned himself to his fate and just let off a pitiful whine as he was dragged through the door.

"wwwhhhhhhyyyyyyyyyyyy?!"

And the door slammed shut behind the two, cutting off his plea and the subsequent sound of fist hitting flesh.

 _Chapter End_

 **A/N: Hey guys! This chapter broke 10,500 words! Which makes this the longest chapter I've EVER WRITTEN! This chapter took a bit long to come out because I've been trying to flesh some of the ways I want the characters to interact out. I want to explore some different takes on some of the character's personalities, while trying to keep them in character. I was thinking of making a Yandere Koneko and a dere dere Kiba to make things awkward and to spice things up, but decided against it… well mostly. (That face Koneko makes in the end? I got the inspiration from the pink haired Demon Lord from** **Reincarnated as a Slime** **when Gabiru calls her short… you know… if you were curious what she looked like with that kind of face.)**

 **So on another note, I'm sure some people are going to comment on how some people use honorifics and some don't. This was intentional. I feel like the "Language ability" that devils get would translate spoken language into the natural language of the listener. For example, Rias isn't Japanese. I'm sure Japanese isn't her native language. Because of that when people say her name she hears it as Rias, even if they say Rias-sempai or whatever honorific they use. As it's natural for them to say it she would normally just hear her normal name. However, if someone is INTENTIONALLY using an honorific for emphasis then she would hear it as such. And vice versa, if she were to intended for the –chan to be applied to someone's name, they would hear it as such even if they also aren't Japanese.**

 **Another example is when she's teasing Koneko and continuously uses the –chan in a teasing manner, versus when she got serious and dropped the honorifics to speak as a master to a servant. It makes sense to me in my weird brain, but if it doesn't make sense to anyone else I'll think about changing it.**

 **On an actually pertinent note, the next chapter will be much shorter and will revolve mainly around three different characters. It's mainly to provide some back story of the first few days of class for Issei. I was thinking about adding it to the beginning of this chapter but it doesn't really flow very well like that so I decided against it. Especially because all three sections are told from the first person view of the characters. The first person will be Koneko and it will explain a bit more in depth of some of their interactions and how things led to this point. The other two however will remain a mystery. :P**

 **Last thing is that I'm going to try to have the next chapter out within the next two weeks, but that will depend on how work goes and if I can get the chapter to flow the way I need it to so it'll work properly. Blow up my inbox up every day if you guys want to help keep me motivated and on task with the writing! Peace!**


	3. 3) Subversion, Memories, and a Conflict

Not going to make y'all wait anymore. A/N at the bottom.

I Own Nothing

Undisclosed Location

2 Days ago

Raynare sighed for what must be the umpteenth time since taking this mission. She had literally never been more bored in her life. Playing babysitter for a bunch of two–winged Fallen was not her idea of a fulfilling mission. Why Azazel asked HER of all people to take this mission was beyond her. If Azazel really wanted this much oversight on this mission, he should've just sent her alone. Investigating a teenager to determine if he had a Sacred Gear or not would be relatively easy for her. Convincing said teenager to join the Grigori would be an even easier task given the stories that she's heard about him so far. She may have only been a part of the Grigori for 10 years now, but a 100% mission success rate is still a 100% success rate.

She huffed in annoyance as a flash of blue invaded her vision once again. She lazily flicked her wrist, violet light sword flashing into existence in her hand, and deflected the blow from the tall blue haired woman who she was sparring with. A battle cry from a shorter Fallen Angel alerted her to the girl's presence as the blonde rushed her from behind. She sidestepped gracefully, her form blurring out of focus from the speed, allowing the golden Light Spear in the smaller girl's hand to bypass her by a hairsbreadth. The surprised gasp from the blonde girl as she lost her balance from the thrust was cut off as pain exploded through her body when Raynare dropped her elbow down on the girl's spine, viciously.

"Mitlett, you have all the grace of a water buffalo. It's not much of a surprise attack if your target is able to hear you coming from a mile away." Raynare chastised the short blonde girl absentmindedly.

The blonde grit her teeth angrily at the woman's nonchalance as she struggled to get back to her feet while the busty bluenette charged Raynare again. The dark haired fallen rolled her violet eyes and back stepped, twisting her shoulders to let the spear pass by harmlessly.

Back step. Dodge.

Back step. Dodge.

Back step. Dodge

"GRRRR! Stop dodging and Fi-AAUUGHH!" The bluenette screamed out as Raynare ducked under her sloppy swipe from the bluenette's light spear, eyes blazing with a dark look, before dishing out a devastating punch to the taller woman's spleen.

"You're too sloppy, Kalawarner." Raynare retorted darkly. When the woman doubled over in pain she rose rapidly, using the momentum to add to the power of her uppercut to the Fallen's chin. Her head snapped up with an audible cracking sound as blood flew from her mouth and the force of the blow lifted her several feet off the ground.

A whooshing sound alerted her to a third Fallen's approach, this one male. She quickly snapped her hand out, grabbing Kalawarner by the throat before she hit the ground and whirled her around once before launching the woman across their training grounds at him. Kalawarner's limp body slammed into the man's chest hard enough to send the both of them crashing into a tree, the bark splintering upon impact. He let out an agonized grunt of pain upon impact and his eyes widened in as blood flew from his mouth.

She whipped her other arm out and caught a Golden light spear out of the air just inches from her face. Her eyes darkened as she slowly tilted her head to the side to see the worn out blonde in her shredded Gothic Lolita outfit standing there panting with her arm still outstretched from the throw. With a single clench of her fist the spear shattered into a thousand shards of light.

"…Tch." Her body blurred out of existence and Mitlett's eyes opened wide, frantically searching for the taller Fallen. She choked out a strangled cry as Raynare fazed back into view in front of her with her fist buried in her gut. Her green eyes rolled to the back of her head and she fell to the ground unconscious.

Raynare stood back up and dusted her clothes off, a simple pair of black skin tight jeans and an oversized white shirt with a pair of black sandals on her feet. She turned away from the downed fallen and began walking towards the entrance of the formerly abandoned church they had taken as their temporary headquarters. She flipped her long dark hair over her shoulder before addressing her fellow Fallen as they groaned and began regaining consciousness.

"I suppose we'll call it a day for training you three. You all have a lot of work to do…" she trailed off as she reached the door to the church. _'I should probably boost their morale a bit,'_ she thought to herself as she glanced at them over her shoulder. "… It was… better… then yesterday though…" she said slowly, then disappeared inside.

The three outside groaned as they slowly began staggering back up to their feet. The male halfheartedly shoved the bluenette off of him angrily who snarled in anger in return. He wiped the blood off his lip s by running his sleeve across his mouth and reached down to pick up his fallen fedora. He knocked it against his knee to get the dust off of it before placing it back on his head.

"I can't believe she trashed us that badly again." He glared at his two comrades before continuing, "You two are fucking useless. Especially you Kalawarner" He growled out in frustration.

"Oh! Well excuse me fer actually fuckin' fightin' her directly on instead o' hidin' in the shadows the ENTIRE fuckin' time like SOMEONE!" She shouted back at the man.

"Fu fu. You peasants are so pathetic, bickering like children over a toy." The blonde remarked haughtily from behind her hand as she used magic to repair her dress. "With skills like that, perhaps you both should just go do everyone a favor and off yourselves already." She absentmindedly chastised the two as she brushed the dust and dirt off her favorite outfit.

The two rolled their eyes before rounding on the blonde Fallen. "Really Mitlett?-"

"Mitlett-sama to you." She interrupted, but was ignored.

"-For someone who supposedly holds the same number of wings than her, you sure managed to get picked apart just as easily." The male fallen retorted.

Mitlett sighed and turned towards him with a dead look in her eyes. "Dohna-kun… At least I didn't get knocked unconscious by having a person thrown at me without even getting within 15 feet of her." She deadpanned at him.

Dohnaseek shrugged and jutted his thumb to the side in Kalawarner's direction and replied, "Yeah? Well, it's not exactly like she's a tiny girl like you Mitlett."

"It's Mitlett-sama, you ingrate!" the small girl fumed, stomping her feet irritated at the lack of respect.

Dohnaseek was suddenly grabbed by the collar and hoisted violently into the air by a furious Kalawarner. "Oi! What the fuck is that suppose ta mean, huh? Are ya tryna say I'm fat or somethin?" she all but screamed at him as she shook him violently.

"Pfffttt! Oh ho ho ho!" Mitlett laughed haughtily and covered her mouth halfway with the back of her hand. "Kala-chan you shouldn't do something so unladylike. You'll never get a man if you act so uncouth… regardless of how much you flaunt that _Ecchi_ body of yours." She finished with a slight grumble as she glared at the taller woman's large bust.

"Haaaa? Who do ya think yer talking to, ya virgin washboard?" the woman retorted, dropping Dohnaseek as she rounded on the blonde.

"V-V-Virgin W-w-w-w-washboard?! What are you referring to Kala-chan?!" the blonde stuttered out as heat rose to her cheeks, dyeing them blood red in embarrassment and anger.

The two taller Fallen both blinked repeatedly at the blonde before staring at the girl's chest… Or lack thereof.

"Jiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii~"

"Jiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii~"

The blonde shrieked and crossed her arms over her chest and turned away from them as she squatted down. "W-w-w-where are you two looking?!" she shrieked in embarrassment over her shoulder.

Clap Clap CLAP CLAP "Bravo! What a wonderful skit you three!"

The three Fallen instantly leapt to their feet and stood at attention for the newcomer. A tall dark haired man walked out of the shadows towards them. The man is tall, easily standing over 6 feet tall and wearing a simple black cloak over an all-black priest's suit, sans the white collar piece. His long dark hair is in a long braid that reaches the center of his back. A large 'X' shaped scar that started above his left eye and trailed down to his chin and from his ear to his nose is the only thing marring his otherwise handsome face.

His lips are twisted into a small smile and amusement shines in his eyes as he looks the three Fallen over. The three Fallen gulped and started sweating profusely at this new Fallen's appearance. They each immediately bow. Even the normally prideful Mitlett decided that it was time to show proper respect, for this was no ordinary Power-Class Fallen (a four winged Fallen).

"C-c-captain Valkor! What is a senior member of the Internal Affairs Agency doing in a place like this?" the wide-eyed Mitlett asks with as much respect as she can muster. And for good reason. The Internal Affairs Agency was merely a political name for what is basically a borderline Interior Inquisitional Force that goes around passing judgement on Fallen who either cause too many problems or the occasional rogue and rebellious elements within the Grigori. As direct subordinates of the Cadre-Class Fallen Kokabiel, there is a general rule when it comes to dealing with the IAA.

DO NOT piss them off. Those who do hardly live more than a few weeks afterwards. Which is the very reason the three Fallen are so on edge.

The Fallen known as Valkor merely gives a friendly smile.

"Oh? Last time I checked the IAA didn't necessarily need a reason to show up unannounced." His smile turns into a wolfish grin. "Catching wrongdoers by surprise is kind of the whole point isn't it?" Mitlett and the others wince at the insinuation. If he was the for one of th-

"Ahh, but don't worry! I'm not here on IAA business." He pauses. "Well not officially at least."

A collective sigh of relief passes through the three, but it's quickly replaced by confusion. "Captain Valkor, if you're not here on official IAA business then what is it that we can do for you? We're hardly more than a reconnaissance team as you most likely already know." Mitlett replies slowly, still unsure of what to make of the situation. Dread slowly fills her as rumors about the Fallen and memories of their previous interactions resurface.

The Fallen merely smiles at the blonde and walks closer before petting her head. An action that the mortified blonde struggles to refrain from recoiling away from. Ignoring the other two Fallen he replies with a tone that he must think is charming as he begins to lay it on thick to the smaller Fallen.

"Why, OFFICIALLY I'm here to check up on my favorite blonde!" his eyes narrow ever so slightly and he tilts his head slightly as he asks the Fallen with a light sense of hurt in his voice, "You haven't returned any of my messages… Are you avoiding me or something Mitlett-chan?" the somewhat hurt look making the petite blonde flinch as her two companions visibly stiffened.

Mitlett frantically shook her head in denial and began sputtering out a response, "N-NO! I haven't been avoiding y-you Captain Valkor! I've just been very busy with this assignment!" she finished somewhat timidly, fidgeting slightly under his gaze.

His smile turned more predatory and he cupped Mitlett's cheek and tucked a stray golden lock behind her ear. An act that the poor blonde barely able to repress the shiver that threatened to wrack her body.

"Ah! I should have known that my Mitlett-chan wouldn't ignore me!" His gaze turned a bit more thoughtful. "But when are you going to take me up on my offer, hmm? My proposal of you returning to the Grigori interior and becoming my wife are still open. The field is no place for such a _beautiful_ lady such as yourself." The word 'beautiful' sounded so disgusting coming out of his mouth as he slowly stroked the blonde's cheek. Her cheeks flushing red in discomfort that he mistook for embarrassment.

As he opened his mouth to say more, he felt something on his hand and paused as a frown made its way to his face. His eyes snapped to Mitlett's and the blonde almost squeaked in terror at the ferocity in his eyes. And it was this moment that Kalawarner had mustered up the courage to help her friend.

"Oi! Tha hell is that supposed ta mean? I'm a lady too ya know!" The Fallen snapped his attention to the bluenette and while Mitlett was far more grateful to the bluenette than she'd ever truly admit, the distraction came at a price.

"I don't remember speaking to you." His voice harsh and cut like a blade as he addressed the now wide eyed Kalawarner. "I also distinctly remember saying that the field was no place for a lady. The field is meant for warriors and whores. Of which, you seem to fall into the latter category." Kalawarner looked like she had been physically struck, and was stunned for a few heartbeats before her lips curled into a snarl and her eyes turned steely. But the fallen wasn't done as he stalked towards her, Kalawarner's face twisting into one of fear as the Captain got right in her face, despite her height advantage.

He held up his and Kalawarner's eyes glanced towards it, a small trace of dirt on his hand. "So were you the one that dirtied _**MY**_ Mitlett-chan?"

Kalawarner's eyes widened in shock, _'What a fuckin leap… and they say women jump to conclusions!'_ she thought bitterly.

Thankfully she was in turned saved by Dohnaseek, who apparently had decided to stop being such a Beta male and step in for his juniors.

"Actually, Captain Valkor, we had just finished a sparring match with our new Supervisor when you had arrived. That is why we all are still a bit dirty, sir."

Valkor's attention lingered on Kalawarner a few moments longer before turning towards Dohnaseek. "New Supervisor? And Sparring? I was not informed of any new supervisor or have any notion as why you all feel the need to dirty my Mitlett-chan with something as boorish as _'sparring'_." The Fallen retorted interrogatively, ending his rant nearly spitting the last word as if it disgusted him.

He seemed to pause and snapped his head back towards Mitlett casing another shiver of unease to wrack the poor blonde. "He hasn't abused his power has he?" His hands clinch into fists and his eyes take on a murderous glint that absolutely terrified Mitlett.

Dohnaseek once again spoke. "No Sir, _SHE_ has so far been very fair and has allowed us to do our job without too much interference barring when there's a mistake made… and the new training regimen."

That seemed to do the job as the Captain turned to look at Dohnaseek inquisitively, all angered seemingly gone as fast as it appeared. "You have a female Supervisor?" he asked quietly.

Dohnaseek merely nodded his head in affirmation.

Valkor suddenly broke out into a wide grin and began laughing loudly for a few minutes, startling the three fallen as they regarded him warily. This mood swing did not bode well.

Valkor finally calmed down and wiped the few tears forming from his eyes as he chuckled out. "I guess the rumors of you being a Beta male are true if you've actually let some Two-wing Fallen female take charge." Another fit of laughter spilled from his throat. "And just who is this Fallen who's supposed to be your, oh so fearless leader?"

"Her name is Raynare, Sir."

That comment made him freeze for a moment. A deep frowned formed on his face in distaste of the name. Oh, he knew exactly who she was. The Hypocritical Angel. He internally sighed. Azazel's whores always seemed to meddle in his affairs, and he had to subsequently quiet each one of them. Always more of a hassle than it was ultimately worth. A barely audible groan of frustration rumbled in his throat. This was going to be an AWFUL headache for him in the future.

But, before he could comment any further, a blue magic circle flared to life next to his ear. The caller apparently was being brief as Valkor barely uttered anything more than a "Yes Sir, I'll take care of it right now." The call only lasting about 4 seconds.

His demeanor changed into an authoritative one for the first time since he arrived and he schooled his features. "Now for the unofficial reason I'm here. You all were charged with reconnaissance of this area and to observe and report on a possible sacred gear user, correct?" As the three nod in affirmation Valkor continues.

"As of this moment, this mission has been elevated to an Alpha priority, need to know only mission." The three collectively gasp at the new information. A group of 2 wing fallen with 1-2 Power-class Fallen would normally never be assigned to an Alpha-priority mission. He continues without allowing them a chance to speak. "As of right now, only you three have been cleared with the mission. I was unaware of a fourth being added to the team, so she will have to be vetted at a later time. As of right now however, she is to remain largely in the dark. Understood?"

A shiver ran down Mitlett's spine. Keep Raynare in the dark? This was not even close to falling within protocol. Something else was going on and the blonde knew it wasn't good. But as things stand, she knew she can't question the Captain as that will just lead to more trouble and interaction with him than she wants.

The three glance at each other and nod at each other before replying with a "Yes Sir," albeit a begrudging one. He nods and continues.

"For the current observation target, his threat level is to be assessed as soon as possible. If he has a Sacred Gear, and this isn't some wild goose chase, you are to report it to me first, and IMMEDIATELY."

He pauses for a moment to wait for their nods of understanding.

"There is going to be a secondary task added to this mission. A Holy Maiden named Asia Argento has been exiled from the church. She is the wielder of Twilight Healing, a very rare and powerful Gear that can heal almost any wound." A collective gasp comes from the three. Twilight Healing? Why in God's name would the Church exile a Hoy Maiden with such a gift?!

"She arrived in Kuoh 3 days ago and is under the 'watchful' eye of one of the IAA's new associates, Ex-priest Selzen. The girl is to remain unharmed during her stay. Your group will take over watching her while Selzen goes on another mission for me. This will last until what to do with her is decided."

He snaps to attention and regards the three, "These are your orders. Carry them out in the name of the Grigori, and bring no shame to its name." The three snap to attention and salute while chorusing "YES SIR!"

He salutes back. "Dismissed." The three turn to walk away-

-And Mitlett lets out a loud 'EEP' as the Captain pinches her ass and winks at her as he backs away from the group slowly. "I'll see you soon Mitlett-chan. I'll finish securing you a position in the interior as soon as I can, so you'll be with me a lot more soon! Isn't that great?!" His sickening smile lights up his face again and he starts to teleport away.

Kalawarner and Dohnaseek turn towards Mitlett and regard the girl with uncertainty. The petite blonde is standing stock still with her fists clenched at her side and her whole body shaking. The blonde takes three steps forward and stops again. Her mind a raging torrent of emotions, but one thought screaming louder than any of the rest.

' _Don't cry.'_

' _Don't cry.'_

' _dontcrydontcrydontcrydontcryDoNtCrYdOnTcRyDONTCRY'_

' _ **DON'T CRY!'**_

A feral scream tears itself from her throat as the world shakes violently at the release of her power. All of the power held within her tiny frame comes forth, raging around her like a hurricane. The amount of pressure emanating from the petite girl forcing both her companions to their knees and leaves them gasping for breath. Neither of them ever had a clue that she had _this_ much power. The blonde rears her right fist back and slams it with all of her might into the tree trunk.

 _ **CRACK**_

The two Fallen's eyes widen in shock as the tree doesn't just topple over. No, the entire trunk about two feet on either side of where the petite blonde's fist impacted just disintegrated from the force. The rest of the tree is sent flying across the church grounds and slams into one of the far fences. Her left hand shoots out and impales her fingers into the bark of the stump and literally rips it out of the ground and chucks it into the top half of the tree across the yard.

Her aura dies down considerably, enough for her companions to stand, and the blonde stands in place shaking as she pants from the exertion of letting go. The small exertion slightly cathartic to the blonde and helps her calm down slowly. The other two stagger to their feet and begin to approach the blonde, but freeze when she whirls around and faces them with fire in her eyes and her lips are set into an angry scowl.

"The two of you will forget what you saw and heard today from the Captain, barring the mission, do you understand me?" she all but growls out at the duo. The two blink and quickly nod their heads in affirmation. "If I find out that you told ANYONE about what happened today, I will do to you what I did to that tree."

The two paled considerably. Mitlett scoffed in annoyance, turned around and marched inside the church. Kalawarner and Dohnaseek shared a quick look and shook their heads, sighing in trepidation. This mission had just gotten a lot more complicated. They followed the distressed Fallen inside the church, albeit while keeping their distance. She obviously needed the space.

As they passed the trio passed through the door, none of them noticed the figure leaning against the wall behind the doors. With her back against the wall, her left foot planted against the wall under her ass, and arms crossed under her moderate sized bust, the Raven haired fallen had suppressed her presence to nothing to eavesdrop on the conversation between the three and the IAA Captain. And it would be quite the understatement to say that Raynare was NOT pleased in the slightest. Keeping your superior out of the loop is the fastest way to get everyone involved killed, but she can't blame them for following orders. Especially since she had her own.

A golden magic circle flared to life next to her ear as soon as the three had gotten out of earshot.

"Hello Penemue. Let Azazel know that I'm on my way."

" _Is everything ok Raynare?"_

The Raven haired woman let out a sigh. "No. No its not. Kokabiel is finally moving and I don't have a clue what he's planning."

" _Kokabiel is *sigh*- Very well, one moment."_

…

..

.

" _ **HEY YOU USELESS, GOOD FOR NOTHING GOVERNOR!"**_ There is a slight pause before Raynare jerks her head away from the circle, nearly going deaf as the sound of crashing and two grown adults start having a shouting match that lasts about 2 minutes. Finally the male voice seemed to relent, and Penemue's sweet voice comes back normally over the line. _"Azazel will be ready for you in a few minutes, feel free to come by in the next 5-10 and we girls can catch up, ok? See you in a few Raynare!"_ and the Cadre-Class Fallen cut the line.

Raynare rolled her eyes and struggled to bite back a giggle, despite the situation. Things like that would never happen in Heav-

She shakes her head and reminds herself not to live in the past. She has to live for the now. Just like _he_ made her promise to do all those years ago. She smiles sadly and unconsciously pulls a small locket out from beneath her shirt and takes comfort in its warmth. The makeshift leather made from a dragon's wing and the locket a pure gold metal, more pure than any found on earth (The feeling the metal gave off felt suspiciously close to that of the Golden Gate located in First Heaven), still made her feel a connection to the little boy who was far more charming and adorable than any his age were ever meant to be. _'I wonder what kind of man he would've turned into if he were still alive…?'_ she though bitter-sweetly to herself.

She gingerly opened the little locket, its size no bigger than a Greek Drachma, and a single tear fell down her cheek before she forced down the rest. The locket contains a picture of a small brown-haired boy wearing a huge cheesy grin resting his chin on a blonde Raynare's shoulder, who also was sporting a huge grin, as she gave the small boy a piggy back ride. Someone had taken the photo with a recording crystal while the two were flying. Her 4 pure white angel wings a stark contract to the boy's green and black Drag-

A feral grown escaped her lips as another, far less pleasant memory tears through her mind. The night of her so called _**'Fall'**_. She still remembered the boy's scream as that 'Monster with the Wings of an Angel' dismembered the child and cast him from Heaven. The cruelest of fates offered to only the worst offenders, enacted on child whose only crime was his parentage.

Or rather, his apparent lack thereof.

She bit back her anger long enough to calm down, wiping away the single golden tear that fell down her cheek with the back of her hand. _'I think that's enough time wasted…'_ she thinks sarcastically to herself. She stands up and closes her eyes and concentrates on Azazel's office. A flashing gold cross consumes her form as she teleports back to the Grigori.

 **Present Day**

 **ORC Room- Kuoh Academy**

"So Issei-san… Can I call you Issei-san?" Before the battered teen could grumble a response back, the redheaded girl continued as if his opinion hadn't really mattered in the first place. "Do you know why I asked for you to come to the Occult Research Club today?"

All 4 sets of eyes turned to the white-haired teen as they waited for his answer. Well three sets of eyes at least. Koneko still refused to even acknowledge that the boy existed from her spot on the other side of the couch from him… But she was listening very closely for his answer as she nibbled on the sweets Issei had given her to sate her bloodlust from when she accused him of trying to escape using dubious means.

Issei looked around the room slowly, taking in the rustic atmosphere the room gave off with a subtle hint of the supernatural. The open space beyond the couches was taken up by a massive drawing of a magic circle. _'Probably a teleportation circle.'_ Issei thought to himself. Candles of various sizes were scattered around the room with the entire back side of the room taken up by a large bookcase filled with old books. _'Most likely a bunch of Magic tomes and Grimoires hiding in plain sight.'_ His eyes trailed off of the various magical tools and non-magical fakes to hide the real ones that were scattered throughout the room and gradually made eye contact with each person in the room.

"Pretty Boy Yuuto" sat across from him. The blonde sits straight backed and tensed as a fake sincere smile is plastered on his face. It was clear to Issei that the blonde disliked him almost as much as he disliked him. Though, it was probably for different reasons. Everything about the blonde just screamed 'Fake' to Issei. Then there is the faint sense of déjà vu every time he looks at Kiba. The teen feels incredibly familiar to Issei, but he just can't place it. And whatever memory the blonde is tied to… Issei knew it wasn't a pleasant one. After all, just having that shade of blonde hair was enough to bring a violent reaction from him alone.

A painful memory lanced through the snow-haired teens mind. Two faceless individuals with glowing blonde hair that made his green eye twitch and the muscles in his back spasms momentarily. Whether that twitch came from the sudden pang of sadness or the flash of phantom pain from his back he wasn't sure.

Sitting beside Yuuto is Himejima Akeno. One of the two "Great Ladies" of the school, and an Onee-san type that made Issei feel a little uncomfortable under her… 'Interested' gaze. The raven haired sat with her legs crossed which made the impossibly short school uniform skirt ride up further on her long legs. She leaned back into the couch with her arms crossed under her chest, which only further accented her large bust and the strain they put on her poor school blouse. She wore a single orange ribbon in her hair, tied to keep her incredibly long silky hair from hiding any of her delicate facial features. Violet eyes, small pouty lips, and a perfectly proportioned nose all formed the face of one of the most beautiful women he had ever lain eyes on.

But there is something completely off about her that he couldn't quite place. But before he could dwell on that thought any further, a low growl and an impending sense of doom invaded his senses. He slowly turned towards the sound, and gulped in slight fear at the small teens glare. His blush deepened as he realized that he may have been staring at Akeno a bit too long. Heterochromatic met amber eyes for few seconds before they both quickly looked away, cheeks flushing red in embarrassment. Which did not go unnoticed by the two older girls, who shared a quick mischievous glance before turning back to the white haired boy.

Issei finally turned his attention back to Rias, taking in her appearance. He had initially expected her to be wearing the same school uniform as the rest of the people present in this meeting, but she wasn't. Instead she wore a simple pair of jeans and a low cut top. Her hair was slightly damp from a recent shower. Her blue-green eyes bore into him as she waited for his answer, and he sighed in lamentation. _'Might as well get this over with. Time to do what I came to do.'_

"Well Rias-Senpai… May I call you Rias-Senpai?" Issei started. A small tinge of surprised flashed in the Crimson haired girls eyes before she schooled her features and just smiled in response, the irony of his response not lost on her. "If I had to take a guess, I'd have to say that you want me to join your ' _club'._ " Issei used quotation marks with his fingers as he stressed the word 'Club'.

Rias's smile widened. _'Good, that makes this much easier._ ' "So I take it you know of the supernatural then, Issei-kun?"

Issei smirked at the vague question. "Of course I do. I may not get out much, but I do know about the Supernatural. Spirits, Oni, Dragons… _The Devil_." Issei's eyes narrowed slightly as he stressed the last two words, giving Rias a pointed look.

"Oh? So you do have some knowledge about the supernatural then. And where did you learn of it?" She asked with a coy smile.

"Why books mostly. The occasional fairytale. The usual. But I never really had that much interest in it, certainly not enough to catch the Occult Research Club's attention." Issei's grin settled into a smirk as he leaned back into the couch as he crossed one of his ankles above his knee and folded his arms, his eyes never leaving the red headed devil.

Rias smiled knowingly. "So I take it that you mean to tell me that you know nothing more about the supernatural outside of myth and stories?" she asked politely.

Issei shrugged nonchalantly.

Rias frowned lightly, then opened up one of her desk drawers and pulled out a thick manila folder from within. She got up and walked around her desk and sat down in front of him and between Kiba and Akeno. She smiled brightly at him and it caused the teen to start to itch uncomfortably. Issei did NOT like the way she was smiling at him. It was like she knew she had something irrefutable on him.

She pulls out a small stack of photos and starts placing them one by one in front of him and regards him thoughtfully after every one, trying to gauge his reaction. Issei scans the photos slowly and he has to resist the urge to frown. This is getting worse and worse for him and he's not sure how to get out of this one.

Rias looks up at him with a bright smile that made Issei's eye twitch. "So Issei-kun-

"OI! Isn't that too familiar?"

"-would you like me to tell you what these photos are?" she asked sweetly, completely ignoring his attempt to interrupt him. Issei rolls his eyes and just gestures for Rias to continue, much to the two older females' amusement.

Rias points to the first one. "This was taken by the school janitor on your first day. It seems someone tanked a considerable amount of force and the concrete paid the price." Rias pretended to appear thoughtful for a moment and then pretended to have a lightbulb go off. "Oh I know! Say someone stopped a juggernaut of a Rook and another female with supernatural speed and strength simultaneously without so much as flinching?" She finished with a coy smile on her lips.

Issei shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. "Gah, the concrete was probably just weak in that spot. Structural integrity all out of whack and all of that. You know?"

The four Devils in the room just deadpanned at him as if to say, _"Is that really the best you can come up with?"_

Issei just laughs nervously and sweat drops. Undercover Operations really aren't his thing. Rias decides to cut him a break though… well in a manner of speaking at least, as she moves on to the next few photos. Each one of them show a similar scene that Issei is all too familiar with. Each one showed a large pile of ash surrounded by a myriad of colorful slips of paper. Each slip appearing as if they were left too long in the sun and had dried out considerably. Small craters littered the area around where the photos were taken showing obvious signs of a small battle.

Rias taps the last photo in the line and looked up at him with a sincere smile. "This is the one I have the most to thank you for." At Issei's rather unconvincing raised eyebrow, she let out another small giggle and continued. "You see, this particular Stray Devil-" she rolled her eyes as Issei tried to look questioning at her mention of a Stray. Who did he think he was fooling at this point? "- got the drop on me. She was a particularly nasty one with the ability to control her appendages even after they were removed from her body. And just as I sense the appendage and whirl around too deal with it…" she trails off momentarily to appraise the teen a bit further. Her eyes trailing down to his left arm where she could feel the phantom pulsing of energy. Maybe a Sacred Gear? "An 8 foot steel pole suddenly impaled it with enough force to skewer it to the ground and sink another 2 feet into the concrete."

"Ok, I still fail to see how any of this has to do with me, Rias-san." Issei replied, his features hardened as he regarded the girl with a sense of caution. Rias merely turned toward the white haired teen sitting next to him and asked, "Koneko-chan, why don't you enlighten the group as to what you found when I had you examine the makeshift spear?"

A small, imperceptible frown makes its way onto Koneko's face, and she mutters quietly, "…It was Hyoudou-Senpai's energy… and his scent." Rias's snaps her eyes back towards Issei with a victorious grin, while Issei raises an eyebrow. "Even if what you say is true, how would White Cat-chan even know what my energy feels like?" he asks with a small smirk making its way to his face.

Rias and Koneko deadpan at him (well Rias Deadpans, Koneko just stares at him with her normal expressionless face). "… Senpai… because your energy and scent is unique. It would be impossible to miss or replicate." Koneko says slowly before turning away to hide the faint pink hue creeping into her cheeks.

Issei's eye twitches and he slowly turns his head to his Kouhai. "And you would know this how…?" he asked slowly with dead fish eyes. Koneko glanced at Rias before looking away fidgeting quietly while trying to ignore the teen. He slowly draws closer to her until his face is just a foot away from her and deadpans.

"H-have you been stalking me too, White Cat-chan?"-I

"T-t-too?"-K

"Since you know my scent so well, does that mean you've been sniffing me weirdly?"-I

"N-N-NO! Buchou made me!"-K

"EEEHHH?! So Koneko-chan betrays me for her lover?! The world is too cruel!"-R

"Buchou NO! I would never!"-K

"So the Redhead has corrupted my White Cat-chan and made her do weird things like sniff me. What a perverted Master you have."-I

"Y-y-your W-white Cat-chan?"-K

"Ara Ara Buchou! So Koneko-chan has finally started becoming a Woman!"-A

"A-A-AKENO S-SENPAI!"-K

"Fu fu fu, Akeno, it seems our little Koneko is growing up… To think she's gone so far already. Ise-kun, make sure to take responsibility!"-R

"R-R-R-RIAS-SENPAI!"-K

"Hai, it is something I must do. White Cat-chan is a very important person to me after all."-I

"I-I-ISSEI-SENPAI!"-K

The three look at Koneko grinning at her, who is currently bright red and pouting adorably with tears starting to form in her eyes as she looks back and forth between her three mean seniors. Meanwhile, Yuuto just ignored everything and kept himself busy with examining his fingernails.

"Ara Ara Koneko-chan… Already on first name basis?" Koneko's eyes widened at her slip up. "To think you've moved so fast!"

And then Issei put the final nail on the poor girl's coffin. "Oh? White Cat-chan is ready for that type of relationship?" He slowly leaned closer and closer to a stock still, and wide eyed Koneko as he continued, putting as much charm as he could into every word. "In that case I'll start calling you… Ne~ko~Chan!" he accented the last three syllables as he leaned right next to her ear and whispered them for her alone. And finished by blowing softly into her ears.

"EEP!"

Koneko stiffened considerably as if she was struck by lightning as her mind seemed to break at the name. But when he breathed softly into her ear, she squeaked adorably and steamed poured from her ears as her face reddened considerably. It was just simply too much for the poor girl.

She stood rapidly and started shaking her head quickly, trying to forget the feeling of his breath on her ear. She started yelling out, "B-B-B-BAKA BAKA BAKA BAKA HENTAI SENPAIS!" and with her eyes closed she decked Issei right in the face, knocking him off the couch with a loud "OOF!"

She froze as if realizing what she had done and ran from the room, crashing through the door in her haste to escape the room. Crying dramatically all the way.

Issei slowly pulled himself back onto the couch with a groan while his seniors didn't even attempt to contain their laughter. He waved them away annoyed and winced as he felt the bruise swelling on his cheek. He rubbed is gently to try and work out the sting as Akeno and Rias slowly reigned in their laughter to small giggles.

"That happen often?" Issei asks gruffly. To which Rias giggled and smiled at him. "Only since you came along."

"Fan-friggin-tastic." Issei deadpanned, but quickly broke out into a bright smile and sighed. "She's just so cute when she's flustered."

Akeno and Rias quickly agreed before Rias turned serious once more. "Shall we continue?" Rias asked, to which Issei just shrugged and leaned back into the couch.

The next thing she pulled out of the stack was a series of forms and laid them out in front of him. "Do you know what these are Issei-san?" She asked.

Issei glanced over them quickly before looking back up at the redhead. "Of course I do. Those are my school forms and transcripts. They're supposed to be confidential though," the teen sighs dramatically, "So I guess I'll need to report the student council president to the Principal for releasing them without cause." He replied exasperatedly, to which she let out a small giggle.

"Well, the leaking of the documents isn't what's important here." She said softly with another coy smile, to which Issei raised an eyebrow in confusion. "You see, I KNOW these are all falsified." She finished matter-of-factly.

Issei gave her a confused look, and leaned forward and looking them over, "And why would you think that? They all look fairly legit to me, but then again what would I know? I only attended the schools." Of course, Issei knew they were real and had come from the places where the paperwork said they came from. But, Issei also knew that Lady Yasaka had also apparently pulled some strings **(read blackmailed and bullied)** with some officials in the Kyoto School District to falsify these records. In other words, there is no way Rias could tell that these 100% real documents were in fact falsified.

"How? Oh that was easy!" the redhead exclaimed with a grin.

 _-Silence-_

The two just stared back at each other. Rias smiling smugly and Issei frowning back unamused.

- _Silence-_

…

 _.._

 _._

 _.._

…

"Would you like to know how I know?"

"YES, tell me already woman!" Issei groaned exasperatedly. To which Akeno failed to suppress her giggle behind her hand and Rias's smug grin became almost unbearable. The junior member of Rias's peerage however, wasn't very pleased. Yuuto visibly stiffened and he frowned at Issei's tone, "Please mind how you speak to Buchou, Hyoudou-san.

Rias's smile faded slightly while looking between the two before answering. "You see Issei-san, we called your previous high, middle, and elementary school and asked about you." Issei's mentally groaned _'Of course I end up with yet ANOTHER supernatural stalker.'_ "And they all said the same thing, _'Hyoudou-san was a wonderful student who never caused any problems,'._ As in EVERY. Single. One. All 49 teachers. From your first teacher in elementary school, to your most recent homeroom teacher in Kyoto High." She pauses to let her words register to the poor snow haired teen who is currently mentally face palming at Lady Yasaka's oversight. She must have **'Compelled'** them all to say good things about him and gave them all the same statement to say. Both he and Yasaka had underestimate the Gremory heiress's curiosity **(read Stalker tendencies)**.

But Issei recovered quickly. "I understand that it's a little far-fetched, but it's probably just coincidence. Sometimes when teachers are trying to be honest and polite about a student, they tend to say something good and generic like that."

"But 49 different teachers spanning 12 years?"

"Stranger things have happened."

"Well, maybe so… but it would also be a complete lie, so unless you mean to tell me 49 teachers lied for your sake…" she trailed off shrugging her shoulders as Issei's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"The hell is that supposed to mean? I'm a great student and I don't cause any problems."

 _-Silence-_

The entire ORC just stared at Issei with a blank look as if to say, _"Really?"_

"What? Is there something on my face?" he asked as he started wiping the bridge of his nose.

Rias and Akeno shared a pointed look. "Ara Ara ssei-san… No teacher would lie to cover for a hopeless pervert such as yourself…" the tall raven haired woman pretended to scold the teen while his face paled considerably as he froze in shock at what she had said.

Rias giggled at his reaction and added to the boy's misery. "You know, our _'Kind'_ aren't exactly adverse to people such as yourself I-se-kun." she said seductively while exaggerating each syllable of his name.

Issei's eyes began to twitch. "Oi! Stop being so familiar you damn vixen… And I think you have some kind of misunderstanding about who I am." He finished while crossing his arms and huffing angrily as he looked to the side.

Rias leaned back and crossed her arms under her bust and smiled coyly, "Oh? I'm sure the Kendo club would disagree, Ise-kun."

Issei whipped his head back around in indignation. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Fu fu fu, by now the whole school knows you were peaking on the whole club while they were changing."

Issei's eyes seem to glaze over and his skin pales. Almost like the cogs in his brain broke and he lost the ability to function.

"Ara Ara, Buchou… I think you broke him." The raven haired beauty giggled softly as she looked at the younger teen sympathetically. Rias joined her in giggling at the poor teen's misfortune.

He finally shook his head and said in a low voice. "I did not peek on them. I am not some pervert."

"Ara Ara Issei-san, but the rumor says you did. They even took you inside for punishment for your crimes!" Akeno teases him.

"That is not what happened! I'm not some kind of Voyeur! If I wanted to see them naked I would have just walked in the front door, not peek through some wall like a coward." Issei declares pride fully.

"Oh? So Ise-kun isn't a Voyeur… He didn't peel on them after all Akeno-san…" Rias said in muck surprise to Akeno, which of course caused Issei's eye to twitch again.

Akeno pretended to be ashamed and bowed her head. "Ara Ara… Youre right Buchou… It seems we've misjudged Issei-san…" she trails off as she looks at Rias, the action causing Issei to narrow his eyes. _'That was way too easy to convince them…'_

""Instead, he's and unashamed Pervert!"" They both exclaimed at the same time.

"I AM NOT!"

"Oh? But you said you'd just walk in the front door if you wanted to see them naked!"

"BUT I DIDN'T SAY THAT I WOULD!"

"Ara Ara Issei-san… Only those who have something to hide would get this defensive you know?"

"I AM NOT GETTING DEFENSIVE!" HE exclaimed while jumping to his feet.

-Silence-

The duo stared at him with amusement in their eyes with a look that says "Really?"

Issei groans and clinches his fists in frustration. "We're done here. You're way off base on both parts. I don't know anything about what you're talking about and I am most definitely NOT some pervert." He turned towards the door and stalked towards it. "I am leaving." And reached out for the door handle-

-When a gold and red magic circle flares to life next to his ear.

"SON OF A BITCH!"

""I KNEW IT!"" The duo high-fived with huge grins on their faces. Yuuto just continued to ignore things and stay out of it, wondering if he could ask to go home like Koneko did.

"WHAT DO YOU WAN- oh no please don't cry Fox-chan! I promise I wasn't talking to you!" –Pause- "NO! I would never call her that!" –Pause- "I'm really sorry Fox-chan… I'll make it up to you I promise!" –Pause- "Sure thing Fox-chan, I'll take you and She-Devil out for ice cream when I get back, I promise." –Pause- "You have who with-NO! PLEASE DON'T PUT THAT WOMAN ON THE CIRCLE RIGHT NOOOOoowHeeeeyyyy! How's my…" He trails off as he glances back at the two Devils in Hysterics and sighs as he takes on a pathetic and pitiful look, "Onee-chan…"

Rias and Akeno are trying very hard to contain their laughter, but lose it at the defeated look he takes on. The poor teen staggers over to the couch and collapses back into it. The squealing woman on the other side of the magic circle squealed even louder at his greeting and started rapidly talking to the teen in a very cutesy and high-pitched voice… that sounded very familiar to Rias even though she couldn't understand what she was saying, but she couldn't quite place who it is.

"Yes. Im sitting right in front of them." Issei suddenly says in a serious tone as he snaps his eyes up to them. That particular statement stops the duo in their tracks. _''What is that supposed to mean?''_

More chatter from the other person.

"Are you sure? Last thing I want to do is get erased for doing things that way." –Pause- "Well, I suppose her pride wouldn't allow that."

…

..

.

..

…

"I see. Very well, thank you for giving me the greenlight."

Issei smiled softly after rolling his eyes. "Yeah yeah, love you too... talk to you later." And the magic circle disappeared.

Issei sighed as he regarded the teens. "I suppose my cover is completely blown now." HE closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. And when his eyes open, his entire demeanor change. He sits up straight and his eyes take on a more hardened visage. His typical smile is replaced by a serious and neutral face. He took one more deep breath before he began speaking.

"I suppose that it would only be fair to tell you what I know of you in return." Seeing Rias gesture him to continue with a small smile on her face he continued. "You a Rias Gremory, Heiress to the Gremory Devil clan, who holds the Rank of Archduke. As the Heiress, you hold the title of Marquis until you take over as the Head of the Clan for your Father. You are currently Co-Governing the city of Kuoh and the surrounding area with the Student Council President, Sona Sitri. You hold the title of 'Crimson Princess of Ruin'. You are also a part of the Strongest 6 Young up-and-coming Devils, of which you would probably rank fourth or fifth. "

Rias's eyes widened. _'Not only has he done his research on me, but he did some on Sona as well? What is his game?'_ She then frowned as his last comment finally caught her attention. _'Fourth or fifth? I should at least be second or third'_

He turns to Akeno and continues. "Himejima-Senpai is the daughter of a shrine maiden." He pauses as if contemplating something, but continues almost immediately. "Holding the title of 'Priestess of Thunder', she is considered one of the strongest Queens among the Strongest 6."

HE frowns and turns towards Yuuto. "Then we have Yuuto. A 'Pretty Boy' who has a mid-tier sacred gear call Sword-Birth. A petulant and angry child who's face pisses me off."

"The feeling is mutual Hyoudou-san." Yuuto replied without hesitation, smiling all the while.

Issei rolls his eyes and turns back to Rias with a frown. "You also wanted me brought here so you could offer me a place in your peerage. I'm sure you've already sensed that I have a sacred gear, but unfortunately for you it's almost useless." He feels a presence touch his in indignation, but soothes it away with a small reassurance.

Rias regards Issei carefully before replying. "Impossible. Both Akeno and I have rated your Sacred Gear at a rank of AT LEAST a high tier or higher. You mean to tell us that it's not?"

Issei shakes his head slowly. "You misunderstand. I do have a high ranked Sacred Gear," ' _Yeah that's underselling it a_ bit' he thinks sarcastically to himself, "It is just useless right now, as I am unable to use it almost at all without it tearing me apart as I currently am."

"As you currently are… Your Gear is currently killing you isn't it?" realization dawns on Rias. "The reason you came here… you wanted to be reincarnated as a Devil?!" Rias asked excitedly.

"Yes… I had hoped that having you reincarnate me and change my being into that of a strengthened Devil would lessen the strain of using my Sacred Gear. As it is, the entity within my gear has sealed off most of it's functions and power in order to help me stay alive. A desperate measure that would extend my life for probably another 10-15 years if I never used my gear again."

"Ise-kun-"

*sigh* "Youre not going to stop are you?"

"- It's very saddening to hear your plight. I don't say that to pity you, but because I understand what its like to have your life spiraling out of control and feel powerless to stop it." Her eyes darken with sadness and pain a bit before she shakes the feeling a way, a sign that Issei did not miss."

Rias forces herself to smile brightly and begins to cast a magic circle to summon her pieces forth. "This is fantastic news, however! I should definitely have enough pieces to reincarnate you and help you out! I think you're too strong to be reincarnated as my second rook… so maybe 6-8 pawns?" She pondered out loud as the mall case appeared in her laugh and she began to open it-

-but lost the joyous mood at his next words.

"Unfortunately, I have determined that it would be impossible for you to reincarnate me." Rias flinched and looked up at him in confusion. "I thought about Sitri-san as well, but she too is unable to Reincarnate me in her current state." He sighed and rubbed his face in frustration. "I came to this area because I thought I would find two High-class Devils and hoped that maybe one of them would be strong enough... heh… that hope was dashed pretty quickly." He finished exasperated and with a tired expression as he looked into Rias's wide eyes.

"What do you mean? There are two High-class Devil Masters in this area, of which I am one."

"Gremory-san. You confuse nobility with power and capability. You may be a High-class Devil in rank, but you are barely a mid-tier Devil in power, if not lower."

' _Good. Now take the bait.'_

The tension in the room grew palpable and silence reigned. Everyone's eyes were wide and on the snow-haired teen. Issei looked bored and unperturbed as he held the Crimson-haired teen's eyes. The shock on her face from the bold statement quickly turned to annoyance and anger at the affront to her pride as a Devil. To suggest such a thing…

"Please forgive me Hyoudou-san, it seems I've misinterpreted your statement." She paused as her glare intensified. "Are you implying that I wouldn't be able to reincarnate you because I'm too weak?" She asked sweetly with a hidden edge in her voice.

Issei regarded her for a moment longer before leaning back into the couch. He waved his hand dismissively and maintained the eye contact without a trace of fear showing. "No. I'm not implying that at all."

The room relaxed slightly just for a moment and Rias's pleasant smile began to return.

"Ah I see I jus-"

"I'm just stating that as fact. I apologize if I wasn't clear. You ARE too _weak_ to reincarnate me as a Devil, even if you still had a Queen piece." He stressed the word 'Weak' a little too much for Rias's taste, and if he noticed her displeasure he didn't show it.

"After all… When was the last time you, or any of you had to train or actually fight someone who wasn't a mindless stray? Something that, as you said, I had to step in and help you with on several occasions. You amateurs need to seriously wake up before you get yourselves or each other killed." The entire peerage's eyes widened and they collectively gasped, taken aback by his words. But Issei apparently wasn't done.

"Not only that, but you're doing a piss poor job of defending your territory. I understand that you and Sitri-san share responsibility of this town, but she's the only one that can be remotely seen as competent. You and your peerage are hardly more than a glorified hit squad and do some contracts. You leave the day to day dealings to Sitri-san, who by the way does a fantastic job of cleaning up your messes and covering your ass, and instead spend your time spoiling your peerage instead of training them so you can defend the subjects over which you govern. I've killed over 20 Strays since I've gotten here that WEREN'T in those pictures you showed me. And over half of them had already victimized several humans before I got to them. Some had been here under your nose for MONTHS."

Rias did something that Issei was not expecting. She bowed her head in shame. Issei's eyes widened imperceptibly as he looked around at the other two, who were both showing their own signs of shame and regret. Issei had never expected Rias to actually feel ashamed for this. Enraged at his rude tirade about her failings? Sure. But remorse? He needed to fix this. His plan would never work if she wasn't furious at him.

"You're right. I am a failure as a King. What would you have me do Hyoudou-san?" Rias asked softly, and with genuine sincerity. It seemed she really wanted to change things. But a mere desire to change things without motivation will just have them slacking off in a few weeks.

People, especially Devils, needed a reason to change. A desire to be better is never enough to keep them going. So Issei swallowed and closed his eyes. A small sigh escaped his lips as he prepared to play his part. Something that for all the rumors and such about him… he truly didn't like doing.

"Go back to the Underworld and resume your role as Heiress until you learn to be responsible enough to govern again. Until you're strong enough to stop hiding in _**HIS**_ shadow." Rias's eyes widened and her eyes snapped up to his, her mouth going slack-jawed as she hoped against hope that he wasn't going where she thought he was.

"After all… You're only here to shirk your other _'Responsibility'_." And with that statement, it was like lightning shot through Rias and Akeno. Yuuto didn't understand the underlining meaning of the statement, but he knew it wasn't something pleasant from his King and Queen's reaction.

Rias bristled in rage at the blatant disrespect. She could begrudgingly agree with his assessment of their battle experience, but to be so disrespectful about it? And to say what he said? _UNFORGIVEABLE!_ Akeno tensed and the smile on her face became more strained, a faint trace of lightning began to spark between her fingertips. Kiba's face contorted into a furious snarl and his hand went for his belt again, and stayed there with that same swirl of energy forming around the hand.

Rias's red aura began to leak out around her as she slowly stood from her seat and began to lean over her the table between them, hands planted firmly onto the mahogany. The table began to sizzle as the wood began to slowly disintegrate under her touch. Her crimson hair slowly began to rise slightly under the pressure of her power, and her eyes gleamed under the shadows of her bangs.

"You come into my territory uninvited, you begin hunting Strays WITHOUT authorization, and then you just show up to my school and cause a scene your first day. I was willing to overlook all of this, so I invite you into my HQ and show you the best hospitality I can offer, and how do you repay me? You refuse to answer my questions honestly about your intentions and then disrespect me and my Servants by looking down on us and calling us weak. And finally you have the gall to insult me and my family directly to my face?!" She finally looked up at him with eyes blazing in fury.

"My family and I…"

Issei just gazed back at her. His lips set in a frown and eyes unreadable. But still, he showed no fear of the heiress. His unfazed look just served to piss the heiress off even more.

Rias finally stood up and crossed her arms under chest. Silence reigned in the room once again as the two stared each other down, waiting for the other to show even a moment of weakness. Finally Rias was the one to break the silence.

"I will not allow this affront to the Gremory Household go unpunished. You have until midnight to leave my territory. You are allowed to gather your things, but come midnight, if you are still within my territory, I will declare you as an enemy of the house of Gremory for trespassing and ensure that you are hunted down." Rias declared, waving her hand dismissively. "Now get out of my sight."

"No."

A collective gasp rang throughout the room. No one could believe Issei's audacity. To blatantly disregard a Pillar Family in their own territory was akin to signing your own Death Warrant.

"Very well." Rias walked over to her desk and stood behind it, Issei merely following her movements with his eyes. "Akeno. You know what to do." Then she formed a crimson magic circle on her desk and a barrier formed around the old school building and the field just next to it. If Issei was surprised he didn't show it. The dark haired teen let smiled sadistically as her lightning grew larger around her fingertips.

"Fu fu fu! I had hoped for better from you Ise-kun. But now you get to play with Onee-san! Don't die too quickly ok?" With that a yellow magic circle formed in front of her outstretched arm and lightning began to crackle around her. Issei just looked at her blankly, and for just a moment she hesitated. He didn't even attempt to put up any type of defense, but he was a problem that needed to be dealt with.

" _ **RESOUND THUNDER"**_ She cried out and a torrent of lightning spewed from the magic circle. Issei muttered something under his breath and Rias saw something green and red flash on his hand, but whatever it was she couldn't make out, because the moment she noticed the small flash, Akeno's spell slammed into Issei's chest. The force from the lightning sent him through the couch and slammed him into the opposite wall. She sent out a second pulse in her spell and the wall exploded behind him from the sheer power behind her spell.

Issei flew into the small field next to the ORC building and slammed into the ground, leaving a large crater from the impact. Pieces of the broken wall clattered to the ground around him, still smoking from the intense heat of her spell. The teen lay there motionless.

Rias shook her head as she sat back down. "Foolish boy, your arrogance was your undoing." She sighed as she put her head down on her arms on her desk. _'So much potential wasted…'_

"Akeno, go check up on him. If he survived, then heal him to the best of your abilities without waking him. Then take Kiba with you and take him to the city limits and set him in the forest outside the boundary. Hopefully he won't do anything else fooli-"

She felt her whole peerage tense around her and a sound that made her blood freeze in her veins stopping her mid-sentence.

PAT PAT PAT

"So?" The snow haired teen's voice cut across the room like a whip, stunning the 4 Devils. Rias's head snapped up and wide eyed stared at him in shock. Issei had taken the full might of Akeno's thunder spell and other than a few charred marks in his clothes, he looked relatively unharmed. He was dusting off his clothes before looking up at the 3. His eyes had become more slit like, especially his green one which now looked disturbingly like a snake's. Every inch of his skin had taken on a red tinge as if he had a light sunburn. A devilish smirk slowly crept up onto his lips, his enlarged canines showing through, as he continued.

"Was that the full might of the famed Half-Fallen _Miko,_ the Priestess of Thunder? I hope that was you holding back." He grinned more savagely after all but spitting out the word ' _Miko_ '. He waves at them dismissively, a red metal glove visible on his hand now. As the back of the glove turns towards her Rias saw the symbol **[X]** wrapped in chains glowing on the emerald gem imbedded there. "If that's the best you can do then there's nothing stopping me from taking this place over."

Akeno growled, all traces of amusement gone as cold-fury replaced it. No one should have known about her lineage. It was a close kept secret within the Gremory family. How could he have found out?! Lightning surged around her in greater intensity. She began levitating into the air and with a brilliant flash of light, her school uniform was replaced with a Miko's outfit. Her Devil wings unfurled behind her and she glared down at Rias.

"Buchou, please allow me to remove this _filth_ from your presence." It was more of a statement rather than a request, but Rias acquiesced immediately and waved her hand at Kiba. "Help her put him down." Rias had barely gotten to finish her sentence before Kiba disappeared from beside her, reappearing directly in front of Issei, a sword formed in his hand, and swinging violently fast at the teen's head, trying to separate it from his shoulders.

But his strike hit nothing but air, the blonde teen's widening in shock as his sword tip missed Issei's throat by millimeters. Issei had leaned back just enough for it to miss. His arm shot out and grabbed the boy by his face. The boy let out a surprised yelp, and with a single twist, Issei stepped backwards and rotated his whole body, throwing the hapless teen straight into the crater he had come from. The teen crashed hard and tumbled roughly before coming to stop a few feet from the crater, his body aching all over as he struggled back to his feet. _'What power!'_ he thought as he struggled to catch his breath.

Akeno screeched in fury and formed another magic circle and shot another thunder spell at him. Issei dodged backwards into the courtyard, barely dodging the spell. Rias slowly approached the hole in the wall as the true battle began.

Yuuto had gotten back up had rushed straight for Issei as fast as he could, the knight wasted no time before barraging him with slashes and stabs as hard and as fast as he could. Issei didn't miss a beat and just dodged or parried every blow with his gauntlet, seemingly with ease. This continued for a few seconds until Kiba finally backed off to catch his breath and reevaluate how to fight the teen. He glanced at Akeno who nodded her head.

He circled him before sprinting towards him from behind and strikes out with Holy Eraser, a short sword. Issei ducks at the last second and Kiba hastily creates another sword in his free hand and attempts to stab the snow-haired teen. Issei adapts however and merely steps lightly to the side and uses the back of his gauntlet to redirect the blade away from himself, forcing the blade to travel in an awkward direction for Yuuto. Yuuto skids to a halt as the redirection throws him off balance. Issei moves in to attack the off-balance knight, but jumps back at the last second to avoid a blast of lightning that slams into the ground where he had just been standing. A small crater forms and rock and dirt fly everywhere from the explosion.

Issei growls in frustration when he notices Rias prepare to join the fight, so he makes a hasty decision.

He quickly reengages the Knight and makes sure to keep him between his King and himself. Rias, who had begun to form an orb of Destruction to assist her Knight, huffs in frustration. _'I can't get a clear shot at Hyoudou without putting Kiba in the crossfire.'_ One more appraising look and she realizes that Issei isn't even watching Kiba, he's glaring at her and making sure her Knight is stuck between them. A smirk forms on his face as he holds her gaze tauntingly as if to say, _"Well? What are you going to do now?"_

However, him focusing purely on Rias sends Yuuto into a frenzy. Sick of being ignored Yuuto back steps away from Issei, before charging into his blind spot with all of the speed he can muster. Issei's eyes widen momentarily as Yuuto vanishes from his sight, only to appear behind his right shoulder.

Gritting his teeth, the teen swings himself around and his hand flashes out, catching Yuuto's left wrist and halting the first blade inches from his face. Yuuto growls and swings with his right, and Issei catches the blade in his Gauntlet.

The snow haired teen grins sadistically at the blonde haired 'Pretty Boy'. But his smirk is returned in kind by Yuuto who rears back and thrusts his head forward to head-butt him. His smirk falters quickly and he leans his head to the left, dodging the head-butt, but Yuuto wasn't finished.

In a sudden burst of genius Yuuto swings his head to the opposite side of Issei as far as it will go with his mouth open wide. Issei only has a moment to panic as a small Kodachi forms in front of Yuuto's face. The blonde rapidly sinks his teeth into the soft leather of the hilt and swings his head as fast as he can towards Issei's neck, blade tip first.

Issei's eyes widen rapidly and he leans back as far as he can go, blade grinding against the front of his throat as it passes by. The action catching even Issei by surprise that he managed to dodge such a sudden surprise attack from such a close range.

Momentary panic vanishes and Issei's lips twist into a snarl as a low grumbling is released from his throat. He forces Yuuto back by reflex and head-butts the teen viciously. Blood spatters from the teens forehead from the brutal impact. The blonde instantly drops hid weapons and staggers backward. Finally, to finish Yuuto, Issei Spartan kicks the teen viciously in the chest, sending him careening across the field.

Issei's senses alert him to a large buildup of magic, and he barely has enough time to launch himself the side to avoid being charred to a crisp from the thunder spell that slams into where he had been standing moments before. He combat rolls and lands on his feet facing Akeno as he slides back a few feet from his momentum. Akeno glares at him and begins charging another spell, and he casts his senses out to his fullest, heightening them all to beyond human levels. Yuuto staggers to his feet and wipes the blood out of his eyes, a feat that Issei begrudgingly had to give Yuuto credit for. Rias, finally able to engage him begins forming a massive orb of destruction. A small trace of sweat evident on her brow from the exertion to keep the orb stable and formed. Something Issei immediately notices.

 **DUN-DUN**

Issei pauses and huffs a few time to catch his breath. He senses Kiba re-summoning his weapons. Kiba circles around him before dashing straight at him. The buildup of Akeno and Rias's spells finish and time seems to slow down for Issei.

 **DUN-DUN**

He sighs and summons up his power. He slowly outstretches his left arm to the side as he reaches behind his back with his back and grabs what looked like playing cards only slightly wider in dimensions. His eyes close and he feels his power screaming to be let loose within his veins. His heart beats loudly in his chest, pumping so hard it almost hurt as the familiar burn spreads through his veins.

 **DUN-DUN**

" _ **RESOUND THUNDER!"**_

" **TAKE THIS AND BEGONE!"**

" **AAAUUURRGH"**

A shouted spell, and passionate order, and a feral roar rang across the field as the three attacked him sequentially.

But…

It was all drowned out by three muttered words from their target.

" _ **Release level 5."**_

A brilliant green flash is released from Issei's left hand and his gauntlet grows a little farther up his arm adding another green gem and 2 extra golden spikes. The [X] in the glove gem from before had become a [V] in his new gauntlet. His skin took on a darker red tinge and cracks began to form all along his skin. Almost like he is growing scales. His nails sharpen into inch long claws and his canines grow long enough that they were visible every time his mouth opens. Rias quickly began to get an understanding of who they were dealing with as flashes of a page she had read on a sacred gear flooded her mind, and while she wouldn't admit it out loud, fear lanced through her body.

"NO! GET AWAY FROM HIM!" she screamed out but it was too late. Her peerage were too committed to their attacks and couldn't hear her over their own cries. She moved to race towards them, but it was over in a moment.

Issei's hand whipped out in front of him, throwing 2 cards in Akeno's direction, _**"Gaía! Ífaistos! KALÓ TIs ARCHÉs TIs KYRIARCHÍAs SAs!"**_ He calls out calmly with a voice brimming with power that clashed with his lack of any aura. The Greek chant caused Rias to freeze in her tracks. _'H-He's with the Greek Faction too?!'_ she mentally berated herself for her rashness. She may have just caused another Pantheon to become hostile with the Devils. _'_ _How could I let this happen_ _?!'_ Rias internally screamed at herself. Her head drooped as an unfamiliar feeling creeps into her heart, gripping it tightly and making her unable to take any action except watch.

Just before Akeno's Thunder spell hit him the two cards stopped in midair, crossing over one another and spewed a black grainy substance out that met the spell head on. The black substance seemed to absorb her spell and the small gains of black sand seem to magnetize to each other using the lightning and a magical magnetizer. The grains continued until they morphed into a straight black bar. Akeno taken aback from the sudden neutralization of her spell using unknown means was too stunned to warn the blonde rushing Issei.

As Yuuto got within striking distance he lashes out violently, aiming to take Issei's head off at the neck. He rushed in on Issei's unprotected side, but wasn't prepared for Issei to whip the black bar over his shoulder as fast as he did. He speed seemingly much greater than before the green flash. As Kiba's blade met the bar, Issei angled it so that his blade glanced off the bar.

Kiba grits his teeth in frustration and unleashes a flurry of strikes that Issei parries or dodges with ease. Kiba slashes horizontally at Issei and he leans back far, allowing the blade to pass a hairsbreadth above his chest. Issei plants one hand on the ground to support himself and kicks upwards, hitting the pommel of Kiba's sword and launching it out of his grasp and high into the air. Yuuto's eyes lost focus and followed the blade and this distraction allows Issei to spin his body around and take Yuuto's legs out from under him.

A surprised look crosses Yuuto's face as he feels his equilibrium go haywire. Issei, now back on his feet, slams the heel of his foot into Yuuto's sternum. A loud cracking sound emits from the boys chest and the impact causes him to slam into the ground hard. Blood erupts from his mouth and the force of hitting the ground bounces him back into the air. His momentum causes him to twist in the air until he's facing Issei, who's standing in a fighting stance with his fist a few inches away from the teen's stomach. Yuuto's eyes widen in horror and he lets out a silent scream as a white aura surrounds Issei fist. Issei slams his fist into Yuuto and the force sends him flying across the courtyard where he slams into a tree. A loud crunching sound rings out and the boy slumps to the ground motionless.

"KIBA!"

And that was the moment Rias saw it. There is a sheen of sweat covering Issei and he pants subtly from the exertion of casting that last spell. He is winning, but he is one slip up away from being defeated. Rias knew that they need to end this quickly and launches her Orb at the teen, and for the first time she sees a hesitation in Issei. Just a small moment of uncertainty, before he seems to shake himself out of it. His face contorts into one of concentration before thrusting his hand forward at an impossible speed.

A fierce concentration of air shoots forward from the motion ad impacts the Orb. Instead of the orb eating through the pressurized air, Rias gasps in shock as the wind penetrates the center of the orb. The penetration is slight, but it's enough to cause the orb to destabilize and fracture into wisps of magic.

Rias meets Issei's eyes with her own. She expected the eyes of murderous fury, but instead she finds reluctant acceptance and maybe… guilt? Issei is sweating heavily now, but seems steady and determined to continue. His ferocity surprises her, but confusion flashes in her mind. _'Why isn't he attacking?'_ she wonders as the teen merely stares back at her, making no attempt at hostile actions. _'He should be trying to finish this quickly, because it's obvious that he's almost at his limit, so why…?'_

"BUCHOU!" Akeno cries out, "He's mine! Ill avenge our Kouhai! You need to call for help!" and begins launching spell after spell at the powerful teen. Rias taken aback from being broken out of her thoughts nods in agreement. She then brings up a magic circle to contact Sona for backup. The Crimson magic circle sparks to life beside her ear before immediately sizzling out. Confusion and panic races through her mind. She glances out at the magical barrier she had put up earlier and what she sees makes her blood run cold.

The once crimson barrier now had sickly blue and green veins running all along it. Hundreds of those cards were scattered around the inside of the dome. Issei had taken control of the Barrier without her noticing. He must have scattered them when he was launched into the field the first time. _'He must have taken Akeno's attack on purpose so he could set this all up while we thought he was down!'_ And that was the moment she realized.

 _ **He**_ isn't locked in here with _them_.

 _They_ are locked in with _**him**_.

Her eyes widen as she looks back at the two fighting and gasps in horror as a blood curling scream rings out across the field.

 **Moments earlier**

Without her allies to get caught in the crossfire, Akeno knows she doesn't have to hold back any more and the spells begin to ramp up in higher and higher intensity and strength. Issei speeds up until he's rapidly circling Akeno, barely staying ahead and dodging her spells. "YOU WILL PAY FOR HURTING KIBA-KUN!" Akeno screamed while launching one final spell, her most powerful yet. The Magic Circle shines brightly in the sky and seems to envelop the whole field.

Issei, drenched in sweat from the exertion stumbled over a bit of loose ground from a crater created earlier. He grit his teeth and slams a green and black card into his chest and there is another flash of green as he cries out " **DRAGON SKIN!**!"The appearance of a large dragon who has the mixed appearance of a both a western and eastern dragon erupts out of his back, roaring into the heavens before diving back onto him. His skin rapidly forms into red and black scales. Issei twirls himself around and takes the attack head on. He thrusts his left hand up, fingers pointed skyward as the surge of lightning slams into his fingertips from the sky. His scales burns slightly as the lightning spell courses crosses his skin and coils around him. Akeno hesitates slightly in shock, "H-HOW ARE YOU DOING THAT?!" she screams out at him.

But this moment of hesitation costs her as growls out. "MAGIC, WHAT ELSE?!" and swings the right side of his body forward and thrusts his right hand out like a knife in Akeno's direction. Her eyes widen in terror and she tries to put up a barrier, but the redirected lightning shatters the barrier instantly. The lightning branches into 6 directions quickly and Akeno gets hit with one of the branches and lets out a bloodcurdling scream. Her body spasms violently and she passes out, freefalling towards the ground.

Rias gasps, and lunges forward to try and catch her but stops abruptly-

-as Issei leaps into the air and catches the raven haired beauty in a bridal carry. He lands as gently as he can and sets her in a sitting position on the ground, resting against his legs. He removes his blazer and rolls it up, placing it behind her head as he gently lowers her to the ground.

He stands slowly and turns to face Rias, his lips set into a small wry smile. Rias notices that his body is covered in small electrical burns and it looks like his skin is peeling everywhere, except his face. He slowly closes the distance between them and stops about 10 feet away from her and silence reigns between them.

Issei is the first to break the silence. "Do you admit your defeat Gremory Heiress?" he asks quietly, a flash of an unfamiliar emotion catches Rias's attention. The glint vanishes almost as quickly as it appeared however.

"I think not. You have attacked my peerage and insulted my family name. You also seem to be on your last leg, while I am still fresh and ready to fight." She replies coolly, her eyes hardening as she prepares a magic circle.

"HA! HAHAHA!" Issei's barking laughter cut across the field and surprised Rias. "I attacked you? If I remember correctly, YOU were the first to order your Queen to strike first." Rias froze as his lips twisted into a smirk. "I didn't even have a chance to defend myself either! And then when I try to brush it off you proceed to order your other servant to attack me, and later join in yourself." The crimson haired girl's eyes narrowed, not liking where this was going. "To any faction I might be a part of, you might as well of attacked a diplomat that was merely trying to broker peace without cause."

Rias finally snarled as things started clicking into place. His barely contained abnormal feats. His cleaning up Strays. His riling her up to force her hand into attacking him.

"You're a conniving bastard, you know that?"

Issei just shrugs. "I have my reasons."

"Care to share them with the group?"

"Only if you surrender now."

"I'll die before I submit to you!" Rias growls.

Issei sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose exasperatedly. "Is violence the only thing that will make you see reason? You know I was holding back right" he asks softly.

"The only thing I want to see is your body disintegrate to ash for what you did to my family!" Rias yells out as she channels another large Orb of Destruction.

Issei let out a forlorn sigh. "I didn't want things to go this far, but apparently you need a demonstration..." he trails off and brings his gauntlet up to eye level, the gem facing Rias. It is showing a red [III] wrapped in chains, but begins to flash rapidly. And with a deep breath Issei mutters out "Release restraint Alpha." Rias clenches her teeth ad braces herself for his burst in power-

-and nothing happens.

Rias looks at him mockingly and opens her mouth to say something scathing back. "I knew you were-"

She's cut off as a violent shockwave emits from him, shattering the ground in 4 meter circle around him. Rias swaps her attack for a barrier to shield herself from the shrapnel from the explosion. When it dies down and the dust clears, she's rendered speechless from the change.

His pupils have both become slits and his eyes shine brightly. His skin is covered in a patchwork of red, green, and black scales he grew to a staggering 2 meters tall and bulked up considerably. His nails became viscous talons, horns grew from his forehead, and his fangs slipped from above his bottom lip.

Rias took a step back in shock and her fear multiplied exponentially by his next words.

"If it's a demonstration of how outclassed you are you need to accept reality... then I'll give you one."

What followed is one of the most painful experiences that Rias had ever experienced in her life.

Before she could ever blink, Issei had crossed the distance between them, fist drawn back. Rias panics and lunges backwards as she throws up a hastily crafted barrier-

-Which is immediately shattered like glass as Issei's fists crashes through it and slams into her stomach.

Pain like Rias has never experienced before erupts throughout her body. She flew backwards and tumbled across the ground before slamming against the ORC building. Her eyes widen considerably in shock as blood cascades from her mouth.

"AAEEUUGGHH!" Rias gasps as the impact against the tree knocks the wind out of her violently. She clutches her chest and tries to catch her breath, but Issei doesn't give her any chance to do so. Panic fills her as she launches herself to the side-

-Just in time to avoid the roundhouse kick Issei delivers aimed at her head. His kick slams into the side of the building and rips the whole wall apart violently. Wood, stone, and metal flies in every direction like shrapnel and she feels several pieces cut into her skin. She then has to leap to her feet and jump out of the way as Issei's foot slams into the ground where she had just been laying, his foot creating a small crater around a foot in diameter.

' _That would have killed me if it had hit!'_ she thinks in horror. Her eyes snap up to Issei from the ground she is kneeling. The teen just regards her appraisingly. She grunts in pain as she forces herself to her feet, staggering slightly as her muscles scream from the effort. She glares at her attacker in anger.

"So. Are you ready to concede? Or are you still denying your own existence." Issei asked quietly with a sad frown on his face.

Rias growls as she clenches her fists. She lowers her head slightly and her bangs shroud her eyes in darkness. Her dark crimson energy begins to seep out slowly, but ramps u until it forms a torrential hurricane of energy around her. Matter slowly begins to disintegrate around her body where her aura touches it. She slowly tilts her head up until her eyes meet Issei's, whose sad smile slowly morphs into a large grin at the change.

Her eyes are now as crimson as her aura.

"HA HAHA! It seems I finally have your attention. Show me what kind of existence you are RUIN PRINCESS!" Issei finishes with an excited roar as he charges the Gremory heiress.

 _ **To be continued**_

 **A/N: So yeah… I know it's been a while, but it's been pretty tough for me to write this chapter. Not only is this chapter the longest chapter I've ever written, but it was SUPPOSED to be twice as long and encompass the entirety of their fight, him meeting a lucky/unlucky fallen angel and eventually Asia. BUT, I decided to cut it here. Half because it seems like a good place to end the chapter (*Evil Laughter*), and because it's killing me to write something so long. Not everyone can write 50k word chapters in 2 days *cough** _ **Nosferatu**_ **cough*.**

 **Unfortunately I can't promise a release date on the next chapter. I do most of my writing in one to two sittings, whereas the other times I try to work on it, I'll spend 3 hours and get a line or two. So I just ask that you all please be patient with me and continue to support me as much as you all have.**

P.s: I also want to give a big shout out to **'** **Nosferatu869'** and **'** **Classic Mecraphone** **'.** I've been really inspired by these two writers especially. "A Fool's Heart", "Red Dragon of Golden Light" and "The Lone Dragon Emperor" that Nosferatu wrote are absolute masterpieces and reading his stories really helped me find out what type of writer I want to be. Meanwhile reading "King of Thieves and Shadows" by Classic has really helped me improve on my character interactions and helped me find how I want said character to be.

I by no means intend to plagiarize their work, but you will most definitely find my writing style heavily influenced by them. Not cookie cutter, as I lack both the ability and motivation to write works such as theirs, but definitely inspired by.

OH! And:

 **Gaía! Ífaistos! KALÓ TIs ARCHÉs TIs KYRIARCHÍAs SAs!**

Translates to: "GAIA! HEPHAESTUS! I CALL FORTH THE PRINCIPALS OF YOUR DOMINION!"

Lame I know, but building your own magic system and chants is kind of difficult lol.

Also, on the note of Harems…

Issei's Harem will NOT include the following:

Grayfia, Penemue, Gabriel, Yasaka, Lady Venelana, and finally (and most definitely NOT) Asia. I know I know I know. But Asia CANNOT be a part of his Harem for various reasons that you all will find out later. (And I kind of despise her character slightly)


End file.
